Turmoil
by Pullingthetrigger-allwrong
Summary: Hinata is bullied by girls for her alluring features. When she transfers to Konoha High, she befriends a group of vampires that protect her. But from what? And why does HE look at her with such hate is there something behind it? SasuHina NejiTen
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! While I will continue the other story, I should still be able to update weekly. I might have to alternate updates between chapters, but I'll try my best to update both of my fics weekly. This story is based on Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer. Although I've taken the concept of the plot, the characters will be altered to fit the cast of Naruto. If you have time, you should give it a try, it's a great book.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or Twilight, or lions and tigers and bears, oh my!**

**Edit:** At this point I really don't know what to do. I've tried a few times to affirm that this fic _is_ based on **Twilight**. I said it in chapter one, I've said it in a few of the later chapters, and I'll say it again. But, I just don't know what else I can say to tell some of you this fic is based on **Twilight**, meaning that yes some of the events will be identical. Maybe I'll make a flash animation. Someone said that I should state that I am copying her book, but I believe that's a mockery to **Stephenie Meyer**. I think it's a mockery to her saying that my fic is the same as hers because I can only dream of writing to her caliber one day. I've had the ending chapter in mind for a long time, so I've been trying to make changes in the story. I guess for some people it's just ridiculous to base your fic on a book, but I just didn't see how it was different from taking events from an anime. Because it's all someone else's work, right? Isn't that what disclaimers are for? Maybe I'm wrong /

Chapter One: Your Presence

Hinata stepped out of the cab, knees slightly trembling as she looked up at her new school. As she climbed the steps towards the building, a wave of nostalgia washed over her; this was how it always started. A new start, a new school. It was always the same...this time would be no different...

_"Look at her. What a freak." She was roughly pushed against a wall._

_The other girls laughed, and continued to beat her already worn out body. "Yeah. Look at her freaky pale skin. She's worse than an albino!"_

_Hinata stood motionless on the floor, watching a thin rope of blood meander away from her arm. Gripping the cold hard ground tightly, she refused to cry out. Throughout the years, she had learned that your pain only excited them. It gave them joy; a reason to draw more of her blood._

_A hand tangled itself in her hair, roughly bringing her to her feet. She winced at the searing pain that run along her scalp. One of the girls grabbed another lock of her perfect raven hair and gave it a heartless tug. "Look at this. I bet it came straight out of a bottle. You conceited little bitch."_

_"Yeah. You think your hot stuff jsut because a few stupid boys whistle when you walk by? You think they actually like you? They only give you attention because you're a slut. Everybody hates you. No wonder why you're an orphan" Hinata was too exhausted to bother mentioning she had never even hugged a boy. They wouldn't listen either way._

_"How many boys did you play with today, 'innocent little Hinata'? Jeez...how much hair do you have? Enough to cover those ugly gray eyes?"_

_After pushing her around some more, Hinata's tired eyes widened at the sight of metal glinting in the moonlight. A sinister laugh stiffened her spine as a pair of silver_

_shears made their way in front of her face. "Since no one likes you, we'll be your friends. And as your friends, it's only right of us to cut that shaggy hair of yours. Be proud to be a freak, Hinata. It's all you have."_

_Closing her eyes, she could only stand there as pieces of her hair floated to the ground. Her head become lighter and lighter as each strand of her long, shiny hair was severed from her with those rusty, silver scissors. Each subtraction made her feel emptier and emptier inside. At long last, she felt too empty to stand; she fell into a puddle, her face relishing the coolness. Everything, everything she had done to fit in had only caused her more trouble. She tried growing her hair because her silver eyes did wonders in cpativating the boys. They said she was flaunting her hair. She had tried dying it brown; her flawless, silky black hair would not be dominated by the flaky brown coloring. Nothing would work. She was a destined outcast._

Hinata sighed as she kept her head down, careful not to bump into anybody. No matter where she went, ijime(1) was a stalker that liked to follow her. It was only a matter of time until the principal would arrange a transfer. Never had she lasted for more than five months since she had started high school. Even five was streching it.

"Hi."

She continued to walk, looking in vain for a room 42-D. "Um...hello? HELLLOOO?"

Confused, she looked up at the brunette man looking at her with a puzzled expression. "Are you talking to me?" _"No one ever talks to me..."_

"Is there any other Hyuga Hinata?"

"Afraid not."

Still confused by her disheartened response, he shook it off and put on a big, friendly smile. "I'm Inuzuka Kiba, and it's great to meet you! I'll be showing you around Konoha High, it may be small, but everyone here is really nice."

A frown etched onto her pale ivory face. They were always nice, but when it came to it, they never even gave a word of protest as they bullied her. Like she was nothing more than a doll to look at. "You don't have to. I'm sure you have better things to do."

"What could be better than following a pretty girl around all day long?" Her cheeks reddened at the compliment. Sure, they always looked at her, but they were never this nice to her. Nodding her head, she slowly fell into step with him as he blabbered on about the teachers and classes. Granted, he talked too much, but he had a rough, alluring voice. Lifting her head, she nearly gaped. He had to be the most beautiful boy she had ever seen in her life. His eyes were sharp and narrow by nature, his cheek bones roughly angular. By all standards, his features were enticing in a cruel, rough way. His nose scrunched up. "I-Is there something on my face?"

"Huh, oh! No! I...I'm sorry..."

"Hey, look all you won't. Just don't drool." She smiled at the way he lightened the conversation. Maybe...just maybe...this time could be different.

She had no idea jsut how right she was...

---------------------------------------------------------

Kiba escorted her to her first class; English III. She was about to take a seat in the corner, but Kiba gently took her wrist and pulled her towards a group of desks in the middle. He went behind her and put both of his hands on her shoulders; Kami, he was freezing! "Guys, this is Hinata. Hinata...you guys do it yourself."

Hinata blinked at the five pairs of eyes staring at her, each with their own degree of warmth. An equally alluring blond creature smiled at her. She could've sworn she had jsut seen fangs...she shook her head. "Hey, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. What's your name?" She faltered at his beautiful, laughing blue eyes. They seemed to suck her into their own little world. In fact, he was even more beautiful than the first one.

"...Hinata."

A tall, statuesqe brunette girl smacked his head. "You idiot, we've already established what his name is." She turned her deep, chocolate eyes to Hinata and smiled warly. "My name's Tenten, Sweetie. It's great to meet you." Hinata shivered; this girl was too beautiful to be human. Her almond shaped eyes sat beneath smooth, elegantly arched eyebrows. Her graceful cheekbones tapered down into an elegantly narrow chin.

Her eyes trailed to the two guys to Tenten's left, and she felt like fainting; what was with these people? Did they hang out with each other to bask in eachother's other-worldly beauty? One of them had fiery red hair that contrasted wonderfully with his mint-green eyes. His mouth was tightened into a strained smile, which looked entirely out of place. His black-rimmed eyes stared into hers with an unexpected mix of animosity and intrigue. The one next to him was concealed behind black glasses and a high collar that reached up to his nose. From what she could see, she could tell that he was good-looking in a unique way exlcusive to himself. Kiba pointed at them.  
That's Gaara and Shino. Yeaah, they don't talk much."

"Hello..."

"And this..."

If Hinata was speechless before, now she was thoughtless as well. She couldn't even begin to register those glaring charcoal eyes and that unkept, wild hair. His pale skin was almost sporting a gray tinge to it. Everything about his face was jagged and sharp; from his eyebrows to his jawbone, there was ot a single curve on his face. Even with that hateful look on his face, Hinata could not look away. He was...captivating.

"...is Uchiha Sasuke."

His blazing eyes narrowed at her with more hate than the bullies at her old schools. It was a hate that was far beyond skin-deep. The others merely exchanged looks before sighing. "Keep glaring, Sasuke. Maybe if you try harder you can burn a few holes into her." Sasuke merely looked away with annoyance while Tenten punched Sasuke in the arm.

Though no pain registered on his _perfect, perfect _face, Hinata could tell from the vibrations of his skin and the stiffness in his arm that there was a _lot_ of force behind that fit. Something clicked inside her brain, and it suddenly all made sense. Besides being breath-takingly attractive, these people were physically strong.

"Oh...did the principal tell you to protect me?"

Naruto scratched his shaggy blond hair and laughed nervously. "Well...yes. But we _want to_. We'd be honored, Hinata." Sasuke shot her another acidic glare. "Well...except that one. But Sasuke's a diva."

"T-Thank you...but you really don't have-"

"Yes." Hinata froze when his attractively smooth voice danced through her ears. She would have never expected such a harmonic voice to come from someone as stoic as Gaara. "We do."

"Okay..." She took the only free seat; right in the middle of all of them. Sasuke's fist clenched as Hinata took a seat next to him. Tenten frowned, but she exchanged knowing looks with all of them; this was a problem...

After lunchtime, Shino stood up and went in front of her desk. She took that as a sign, and stood up, following him. Tenten gave her a reassuring smile as they filed out of class and towards the roaring cafeteria. The six of them took a seat at a bench, and motioned her to follow suit. She sat down and watched with curiousity as all of them took drink tumblers out of their bags and gulped down the contents. "What's that?" Hinata instantly regretted her nosey-ness as they froze mid-gulp. "G-Gomen! I didn't mean to...I mean...nevermind!" She was waving her hands in front of her hysterically.

Naruto blinked, then laughed at her. "That's okay, Hinata. You know, this is the most life I've seen in you all day. Are you always this hyper?" She blushed as she sat back down and twiddled her fingers.

Tenten patted her head. "It's okay. The thing is, we're...models. Yes, and we have to watch our weight. All they let us drink are these icky protein juices."

"Ohhh!" It made perfect sense; of course they were models! That would explain why they were all friends; they probably all worked at the same agency. As Shino polished off his drink, he waved it past Hinata's face while he tried to recap it. Hinata gagged at the smell; what the hell did they feed their models?

"Aren't you going to eat something? You're thin as a rail!"

Her slender arms covered herself protectively as she smiled embarrassingly. "No, I'm not hungry..."

Hinata looked at all of their gorgeous faces, as a genuine smile adorned her peachy lips. Already, this year would be unlike any other...at least that, she was positive of.

As her eyes unconsciously trailed towards Sasuke's, he quickly looked away from her. Without looking under the table, she was sure that he was clenching and unclenching his fists in fustration. His animosity towards her gave her a slight sting, but she found that despite her best efforts, she couldn't tear her eyes away...

-----------------------------------------

1. Ijime is the Japanese term for bully. I know that maybe the bullying in here was a bit harsh, but it was common for people in Japan to be bullied for their hair color or physical appearance.

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	2. Chapter 2

Wow I'm just...blown away by you guys! You are all awesome! And for all of the annonymous reviewers, sorry I couldn't personally thank you (err...you know why), but I just wanted to let you guys know how happy your reviews make me! Thanks so much for all of the support! It's always entertaining to hear what ya'll have to say :) I know some things are going to sound really bizarre, but i promise it will all be explained in later chapters.

**Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue/ I don't own Naruto, BUT NEITHER DO YOU:D**

_**"telepathy"**_

Chapter Two: Your Words

About halfway into lunch, Hinata abruptly looked up as Sasuke got up from the table and left. The others noticed her eyes following him as he left. "Don't worry Hinata. He said he had to go to the principal's office. Sasuke...likes to wander off."

Hinata nodded, then froze. "The principal's office! She told me to turn in my paperwork during lunch!"

"Paperwork?"

"My grades...and, stuff..."

"Err...I'm sure that can wait. I mean, she sure isn't going anywhere!"

"G-Gomen, I'll be right back."

Before the others could stop her, she had already flung her backpack over her shoulders, and was running to the principal's office. As she reached the principal's office, she paused outside of it to catch a breather. If there was one thing Hinata truly stunk at, it was anything and everything related to physical activity.

"But why are you so eager to change your first period Biology? During registration you were oracticaly begging for it because it fit your schedule." Unconsciously, Hinata leaned in close to the door with her ear pressed against it. Hey, we all get a little curious sometimes.

"I change my mind. There's too many..._distractions_ in that class." Hinata lost strength in her knees and slid to the floor, still leaning against the door. It was distinctively Sasuke's voice...and she had a pretty good idea of who this "distraction" was...

"Oh come on, Uchiha. Uzumaki isn't that loud. Besides, I see here he is in your other classes, and you're not saying you want to transfer out of those."

"It's not him. It's...the girls. They keep staring at me like I'm some circus attraction. I get enough of that."

"Well can you blame them? You're a strapping young lad. If you want to get rid of your distractions wear a ski mask to school. I don't know, be creative. You're not in the top five of your class for nothing, Uchiha."

She could hear him practically seething with anger. It didn't make sense to her; yes, she had taken more than a 'quick' glance at him, but she wasn't oogling him or anything. What could she have possibly done to make him hate her so much? She was so lost in thought that she didn't hear the footsteps approaching the door. Next thing she knew, she went hurtling backwards and was leaning against his legs. Hinata looked up with teary eyes to see a surprised Sasuke. He opened his mouth to speak, but merely closed it and walked away, causing her to tumble into the office.

"My goodness, what are you doing on the floor!"

"I-I just came to give you my p-aperwork..."

"Are you okay?"

She nodded, handed her the packet, and quickly ran out, rubbing stubbornly at her watery eyes. He was just a boy; a cold, heartless boy. Why was he able to get to her so easily? And why did she let him?

Looking down at her watch, she saw that there was only ten minutes left of lunch, and she certainly didn't want to go back in there, not after he had seen her cry. Looking down at her schedule, she took her time in walking towards the gym.

As Hinata was halfway through pulling up her shirt, a girly high-pitched voice interrupted her, leaving her in an awfully awkward position with her arms still stuck in their sleeves. "So, I hear Sasuke-kun really hates you for some reason. Were you taking pictures of him too?" Hinata tried to took up at the pink-haired girl, but her tangled up shirt was obscurring her view.

"No..."

"Hm...well, don't feel too bad about it, okay? I mean, he made _sure_ I wasn't in any of his classes during registration." She pouted at the last sentence. Hiata yanked the shirt over her head, pulling on her uniform shirt. While she locked her locker, she noticed that the pink-haired girl was waiting for her. Hinata quickly locked it and rushed to the end row where the girl was waiting.

"My name's Haruno Sakura, what's yours?"

"Hyuga Hinata." Now Hinata was finally able to get a good look at her. She was pretty, in that girl-next-door kind of way. Hinata's eyes bulged out at the length of Sakura's gym shorts; she had rolled them up as high as they would go, it's a wonder it covered her knickers.

As the two of them went into the gym, a fierce looking purple-haired woman was waiting for them. "ALRIGHT LADIES! My name's Anko, just call me Anko-sensei. Since I don't know all of your names, and it's the first day of school, just play some basketball. Most of the girls moaned, but Sakura was jumping up and down. Then she turned to glare at a blond-haired girl.

"You're going down, Ino-pig!"

"No, you're going down! And try not to crack to floors when your forehead comes crashing down!"

As Anko blew the whistle, the two of them were off, clawing at each other for the ball. Naturally, Hinata couldn't shoot a basket to save her life. She was especially uncoordinated today because her mind was so distracted. She couldn't stop thinking of the mysterious, cold Uchiha. No matter how many glares he sent her way, how he seemed so fustrated when she was near, she just...couldn't seem to hate him...

"WATCH OUT!"

A rebound ball came falling out of the sky, bouncing off of her head as she rubbed the sore spot. What a perfect way to end her day.

------------------------------------------earlier that day----------------------------------------------

Sasuke quickly walked past the female population of Konoha High School while he held his breath; God, did they just have to follow him? Gasping for air, he swatted his hands in front of his face, trying to rid the air of their curious scents. Individually, none of their scents did much to penetrate his mental state of focus. However...

_they always had to flock together._ Somewhere, he could vaguely smell something delicious behind him. He had to get out of their...

Despite their best efforts to get close to him Sasuke smoothly brushed past them and stepped into his classroom. Tenten and Naruto waved him over. "Oi teme. Kiba sent me an urgent message. He said he found someone with-"

All of their speaking ceased as an alluringly beautiful scent floated through the air. Kami, Sasuke had to clench his fists to keep from jumping out of his seat and pursueing whoever this enticing scent belonged to. **_"Kiba, what the hell are you thinking?"_**

Kiba steered her towards their desks; Gaara closed his eyes in concentration as Shino zipped his collar higher, covering his nose.

_**"I was thinking...she'll be next, moron. We all know it."**_

He locked eyes the silver-eyed girl and immediately knew it was _her _who possessed that mind-blowing fragrance There was no question. Her porcelain, ivory skin; earnest silver eyes, silky jet-black hair; round, innocent face. Merely looking at her caused her delicious, euphoric smell to intensify a thousand-fold; Sasuke quickly narrowed his eyes, trying to block out her mesmeric image. In all his years, he had surely experienced many intriguing aromas that had threatened to shatter his temptation, but never had he experienced something of this degree. Her smell; no, smell couldn't begin to describe it. This, this aura, this ambience was far more captivating than any he had encountered.

Her eyes were timidly exploring him, gliding over every contour of his face; he could feel it. Words passed through his ears, but he could no longer hear; could no longer process such trivial thoughts. All he knew, was he had to scare her away.

With as much hostility he could muster under such conditions, he glared at her. He mentally sighed with relief as she shrinked under his gaze and seemed to scoot away from him. Sasuke turned his head to the Sect; they shot him reciprocal looks.

_**"Kiba's right. We must look after her. Save her from 'him'..."**_

_**"We're treading on thin ice here."**_

_**"I know Sasuke, jeez. I'm not deaf, I can hear your thoughts you naughty boy! You're gonna give me a nosebleed here!"**_

_**"Naruto..."**_

_**"Guys, guys. I know this is dangerous...but what choice do we have? We made an oath, we signed it in our own blood."**_

_**"Blood you say?"**_

_**"Focus, man! We'll just have to...resist. Sasuke...keep your distance."**_

_**"...Sasuke?"**_

_**"I know."**_

For one and a half aggravating hours, he had to resist jumping on her. He was tensing and clenching his fists so tightly that by the end of class he was practically standing up. He leaped out of his chair like a panther as soon as the bell rang and didn't bother to wait for the others. He found a table in the corner and took a seat that was farthest from the rest. As she appeared into his range of vision, he groaned. Man, did he need a drink. Like the others, he pulled a travel-sized tumbler from a pocket of his black suede jeans and opened the lid.

_"Mm...pig's blood." _He closed his eyes in comfort as he gulped it down. It was the best substitute for the real thing, afterall. After chugging the contents of the cup down, he quickly got out of his seat and headed for the principals office. They told him to resist, but it just wasn't an option. Sasuke walked on, unaware that he was being followed.

"Tsunade."

"Now, that isn't anyway to talk to your principal!"

"Whatever. I need a schedule change."

"What? Why?"

"I just need to transfer out of first period Bio."

"But why are you so eager to change your first period Biology? During registration you were oracticaly begging for it because it fit your schedule." Unconsciously, Hinata leaned in close to the door with her ear pressed against it. Hey, we all get a little curious sometimes.

_"Because I feel like pinning her to the floor and having a taste..." _"I change my mind. There's too many..._distractions_ in that class." Hinata lost strength in her knees and slid to the floor, still leaning against the door. It was distinctively Sasuke's voice...and she had a pretty good idea of who this "distraction" was...

"Oh come on, Uchiha. Uzumaki isn't that loud. Besides, I see here he is in your other classes, and you're not saying you want to transfer out of those."

"It's not him. It's...the girls. They keep staring at me like I'm some circus attraction. I get enough of that."

"Well can you blame them? You're a strapping young lad. If you want to get rid of your distractions wear a ski mask to school. I don't know, be creative. You're not in the

top five of your class for nothing, Uchiha." _"Damn old hag."_

As he opened the door, he froze as a small dark-haired girl tumbled onto his legs. He could feel a coldness inside the pit of his stomach as she looked up at him with those big, tear-stained eyes. God, they just made him feel so...crappy.

He wanted to reach down and pick her up, maybe hold her; no, that was too risky. He should have at least apologized, or said something, anything. But...

What better way to get rid of her than to make her hate you? So he did what he was good at...

_He ran away..._

That's all for now, thanks for reading! I'll update in a week or so


	3. Chapter 3

Oh...my...gosh! I am like spazzing out right now! I can't believe how much response this story has been getting. Sob Do you know how this makes me feel? Keep it up you guys! And thank you so much for helping little ol' me get encouragement for writing. Wow...and I'd like to say sorry if i took kind of long to update, but I'm busy trying to get ready for school. You guys are awesome. On Tuesday, I have to go somewhere for about four days, but I promise to update right after that! Hope you guys will understand :D

**Disclaimer: Roses are Red, violets are Blue. I don't own Naruto, but Kishi I wish I were you ;D**

Chapter Three: Your Touch

The next day, Hinata found two guys sitting on her desk, trying to push each other off. She looked around, making sure she was in the right class. Sure enough...It was class 42-D. When they stopped clobbering each other enough to turn around, they broke out into a smile and waved at her. _"Kuso..."_ Basically the whole class was starig at her because of the distraction it was causing. She could even see _him_ peering at her from under his bangs.

"A-Ano...I'm afriad that's m-my...s-seat?"

"Oh, we know! I just came here to see if you wanted to-"

The other guy elbowed him and cut him off. "-go to the dance with-"

"-me!"

They turned around when they felt a dangerous aura from behind them. They both paled at the sight of Tenten. "You jerks...what do you think you're doing? What's your problem, are you too stupid to know that the dance is Ladies' Choice. As in, tough luck cause no girl would ask you two idiots."

"Pft...I've got to act first before someone else snatches my prize away from me." _Wink._

_Shiver._ "Ah, sorry, but I can't."

**"Why not?"**

"W-Well...see, I'm...going to study. At the library."

The red-head smirked. "I love cute nerd types like you. Well, see you around, Hinata."

"Not if I see her around first!"

Hinata turned towards Sasuke, hoping he hadn't heard everything. She saw he had relocated to the farthest end of the class; she sighed with relief. There was no way he'd be to hear that embarrassing conversation. Since his hair was covering his eyes, Hinata didn't notice the way his head was inclined towards her, as if he had heard the whole thing...

Through out the whole class period, Hinata couldn't hear a word about cell mitosis. Everyone was still busy discussing that stupid dance. With a sigh, Hinata gave up tyring to listen to the class lecture, she turned to the left and decided to study the more fascinating creatures surrounding her. Now, that was a topic worth studying, not some "dance."

For the frist time, she got a good look at their clothes; they had to be rich. All of their black apparel and shiny jewerly looked expensive. Tenten's dress was by far the most extravagant; her Lolita/Goth inspired style looked like it could very well be worn down the run ways of any prstiguous modeling agency. Her black lace skirt complemented her fishnet stockings. The skirt fell a few inches above her thigh, and a bit lower thaan that were her black kne-length lace up boots. Hinata tried to picture wearing something like that and nearly retched; she could hardly had anything black in her closet, not to mention..._fishnet...shudder._

The guys wore simpler clothing, but it only added to their charm. Shino, well he had that nose-high leather coat, and Naruto was by far the most colorful of the group. He wore a black-and orange shirt with black suede pants that nicely framed his legs. Gaara was wearing a black long sleeve button up shirt, opened a bit at the top to give anyone passing by a nice glance. He wore straight, tight pants that went very well with his naturally lanky frame. Kiba's outfit was as rough as he was; he wore a black jacket over a thin fur-trimmed sweater, with the hood sticking out. And Sasuke...

_Sasuke._ He was wearing a black, tight-fitting flannel that had a set of headphones sribbled near the shoulders and chest. His black jeans were only slightly tighter than Naruto's, and if Hinata was a more crude individual, she would've told you how nice his ass looked in it.

Hinata lost track of her thoughts, and snapped back to reality as the shrill bell jolted through her bones. She looked around, noticing that the room was nearly empty. She quickly picked up her things and ran outside the door, running into someone as she rushed out the door. Shaking her head, she found that she was face-to back with someone. Who ever it was, this person was much too tall for her to look at their face. Upon contact, Hinata could see his well-toned muscles stiffening in his back. Hinata felt something warm inside of her rise, curling up into her chest where she had collided with him. Without thinking, one of her fingers stuck out, gently prodding one of his shoulder blades...

_Fwap!_

She opened her eyes, and felt herself wilting under his penetrating glare. The poor girl would've looked away, highly uncomfortable under his blazing stare, but he had her pinned to the wall too tightly. "I-...I...Sorry..."

When he saw her face turn red from the lack of air, he saw his arm on her nek and quickly let go. Without another word, he walked away from her, disappearing down the halls. She was used to being hated; it was nothing new to her. Hinata was so used to it that any feeling of compassion or affection made her feel awkward and uncomfortable...It hardly even stung anymore when someone hated her.

So why did he have to be different?

---------------------------------------------------

During lunch, she saw Kiba wave her over. On her way to their table, Hinata squinted her eyes to get a better look at them. Again, they were sipping from those same red tumblers. Did they never eat? I mean, she knew how hard it was to be a model because cousin had been what, he still ate regularly, jsut smaller protions. She had never seen them eat anything...

"Hello!"

Hinata stumbled backwards when Sakura's head popped up from nowhere, falling right into...that guy from the morning...

"Oh..._helllo_. Nice of you to...drop by! Har har!" The white-eyed girl quietly squeaked and picked herself up, taking a few protective steps away from him. "Heh heh heh..."

She gave a little bow to Sakura to excuse herself, and quickly ran towards the others. Sighing, she placed her tray down and gave a small smile to her strange new friends. Naruto, Kiba, and Tenten smiled, while Shino and Gaara noded to acknowledge her presence.

Tenten tipped her head back as she poured the remains of that disgusting, putrid protein shake into her mouth. As her hand roughly shook the tumbler, something on her finger glittered under the spare lighting in the cafeteria. Hinata squinted her eyes to get a better look at her ring.

The chocolate-eyed girl opened her eyes and looked at Hinata. "Hinata? You okay? Oh gosh...you're paler than...Gaara!"

Her silvery eyes were wide and locked onto the huge rock on Tenten's finger. It was an impressive ring; it was a rare blue diamond set in two-tone gold. The sheer size of the pear shaped gem stone was certainly awe-inspiring. But Hinata was a simple girl. Though her parents had left her a fairly sizable will, she was never one to be prone to such luxuries or fineries. The invaluable token was not what had her baffed. Rather, it was who the ring had formerly belonged to...

_Flashback_

_He opened the soft velvet box, revealing a beautiful blue diamond ring. Hinata blinked, before looking at him. "What's this?"_

_"It's one of my mother's family heirlooms. It's been passed down on her side from generation to generation. Your father just gave it to me."_

_She made a face. "It's very pretty. But...why are you showing this to me?"_

_The older boy sighed, rubbing his temples. "To make you jealous of my rock. It's to give it to you, idiot. Why else would I be showing you something like this? In case you haven't noticed, I'm not one for jewelry." Hinata blushed. It was true. He was more of a shirt-and-jeans kind of guy, and anything that wasn't black or white was given to her, or charity._

_"Oh...well, I can't take this! It looks very expensive..."_

_With a shrug, he snapped the box closed and shoved it towards her. "Well, who else would I give it to?"_

_"Well...someone you...um...l-love?"_

_Snort. "Like that'll ever happen."_

_"Don't give me that. It's a chore in itself shoveling all of those love notes from the mailbox."_

_He grabbed her in a headlock, ruffling her hair. "Hey, you gotta earn your stay here, you know? Jeez, gift giving is never just 'oh, you shouldn't have!' with you."_

_Hinata cringed at his distubing imitation of her voice. "Hey, just...keep it. Someday someone you love will wear that ring with pride, okay?"_

_"Ffffiiinnne, if you say soooooo."_

_End Flashback_

Maybe this was the girl he had love. That didn't bother her; Tenten was gorgeous, and kind from what she could tell. What really disturbed her was...

_He died just last year..._

"Hey, what's wrong? Hinata? Hinata!"

They all turned towards Sasuke, who had dropped his tumbler, sending its contents to the floor. Naruto panicked, getting on all fours and 'disposing' of the evidence. He rushed around the table and went to where the distraught girl was.

**_"Shit...shit...Hyuga, how could I have overlooked that?" _**Tenten fustratingly exclaimed.

**_"It's okay Tenten...we were all distracted by her fragrance..." _**Shino tried to reason with her to calm her down, but Tenten was already prying the ring off of her finger, shoving it into her pockets. But it was too late; the damage was done.

**_"We've got to...ahh..." _**Naruto scratched his head; this was _bad..._

Hinata's eyes were platter-sized pools of anxiety. Her fingers were shaking in an unhealthy manner, and her lower lip was trembling. She felt so cold that she hardly noticed the cold hands that enclosed his wrists and dragged her away from the table. She couldn't even feel 500 pairs of eyes drifting towards her as the school heart throb pulled her along. Looking down at the long, masculine hands enveloping hers caued her to snap out of it and come to her attention. Sasuke whirled around with wide eyes as she tugged at her wrists. "No, stop! You don't understand! They're...you're...you've got to be theives! Stop, please let go!" She didn't even have a free hand to wipe the tears wildly spilling from her eyes.

He looked around, looking for somewhere to keep her. Sasuke continued to pull her despite her protests, and dragged her into the boy's restroom. "Ey man, what the hell?"

"Get the hell out."

"What? Hey, if you want some alone time, the janitor's-"

In one swift movement Sasuke had the boy by the collar, suspending him above the air. Hinata didn't remember even seeing him move his arm...

"I said...get. Out."

That sure as hell was enough for the others as they quickly stormed out of the room. He turned around to look at her tear stained face; sighing, he leaned in to quickly wipe them away. By now, the frenzied girl had calmed down considerably. However, in place of the panic she had replaced it with as much anger a girl such as her could call upon. "How did you get it!" His silence and stoic face made her blood boil. A fresh layer of tears ran down her face, falling onto his hands. She wrenched herself out of his grasp, and looked at him with more hate than she knew she could gather. "Did you do it because you hate me"

He looked at her with a confused/surprised look. It was the first sign of any emotion besides anger she had seen him express..

"What did you do, dig his grave to get it? Why'd you do it! Do you really h-hate me that much?" He tried to talk to her, but she was too confused to listen. She turned away and ran out, the soft tips of her hair grazing his face as she whirled around.

As she ran towards her car in the parking lot, Hinata wiped at her eyes with the back of her sleeve. He could hate her; fine. There obviosuly was no way she was changing that. But how _dare_ they disrupt her nii-san's peace...that she could not forgive.

Sasuke leaned against the wall, staring out at the window, watching her small, slender body run away. His eyes widened when he saw what was headig towards her, and when someone came into the bathroom a second later, all they saw was an open window...

----------------------------------

Hinata collapsed onto the ground from exhaustion. Damn her unatheletic-ness. Of all the times for her lungs to give in...

A loud, blaring noise woke her from her distraught thoughts, and her pale face became transparent as the large vehicle came charging at her. Since she was so small, andshe was crouched over, the driver hadn't seen her before he was only a few feet away from her. Hinata wrapped her arms around her and closed her eyes; she remebered her last visions were that of a black angel, falling from the sky, and dashing towards her. But with the kind of luck she had, it had to have been her dying wish to see him, just one last time.

He was merely a dying girl's apparition...

--------------------------------

Confused? Heh, I don't blame you. I promise, everything will be explained. Bear with me, please? Ja, until I return from my adventures :D


	4. Chapter 4

Everyone, I am very, very sorry! I tried to upload this yesterday, but I kept getting an error page. I tried to submit it in every hour, but the site wouldn't let me. I'm really sorry for making all of you fine people wait. I hope you understand. On a brighter not, I can't believe how much response I'm getting to this story. Thank you all for supporting me, and encouraging me to write faster and better chapters. And sadly, I'm aware some of you do not like the pairings, and I truly wish there was something I could do to help, but I can't make everyone happy D: And thanks again for giving me such kind words of encouragement!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

Chapter Four: Your Enigma

The sudden painful sensation in her legs jerked Hinata out of the darkness, and back to conscienceness. She winced as two strong arms closed in around her, wrenching her legs into an awkward angle. As she went flying, her head collided with her car's bumper, making her vision slightly blurry. A burning pain pulsed through the muscles in her legs, but she had no time to think about that. The same arms fastened around her waist tightened, nearly squeezing the life out of her. She felt a heavy pressure push both of their bodies forward, until they skidded to a halt. Hinata's jaw dropped when she looked behind her; not only was _he_ her unexpected savior, his shoulders were embedded into the hood of the truck.

And he didn't look tired at all.

He simply pulled himself out of the fair sized dent in the car, and backed away, still holding onto her. In an attempt to dodge her, the driver had driven in a full arc, and cars were trapping them in every direction. He loosened his hold on her, and leaned down so that his lips were aligned with her ear. It shivered from his frosty, cold breath as he whispered into her ear. "Hinata...are you alright?"

What to say...'I'm fine,' 'I'm okay,' or 'I'm alright'? They were all lies. She was confused, fustrated, and most of all, the feel of his cool hands penetrated the fabric of her white sweater, and it was driving her insane. Hinata didn't know how long they stayed like that, together on the ground, but each second seemed like a lifetime to her. To her dismay, he pulled away from her like she was a virus when the cars were cleared away and the ambulence arrived.

A bowl-cut, bushy eye-browed, spandex clad jazzerciser came running out of his truck. From under the bandages wrapped around his head, she could still see the blood seeping through. He had hundreds of cuts and scrapes around his face, and looked much, much worse than she did. With floods of tears running down the ghastly bug-eyed creature, Hinata smiled at him uncomfortably. He threw himself at her feet, still sobbing. "Forgive me for nearly extinguishful your youthful, burning flame of youth! I will do whatever I can to make it up to you, and your springtime of youth!"

The medics kicked him aside and forcefully pushed her down into a gurney. Hinata covered her eyes, too embarrassed for words. She could hear all of the voices of her peers around her; all of the attention was making her feel naustious. When the medics tried to force Sasuke into a gurney, he stopped them with a hand and charismatically refused. Hinata tried to sit up, but the medics pushed her back down.

"A-ano, I'm n-not hurt, this is r-really not nec-"

"Good lord, she might have permanent brain damage, she's stuttering! We're affirming that she has a severe concussion, she needs to be taken to the emergency room right away!"

"N-no, no, I-I'm fine..."

"This is serious! Roll her into the car!"

Hinata sighed, burying her face into her hands. She wished she possessed Sasuke's authoritative tone; the medics hadn't even bothered to suffocate him with a humiliating neck brace. The poor neck-braced girl sighed; her truck had a flat tire, she was in a gurney, with a neck brace, and the whole school was looking at her. There was no possible way it could get any worse.

Sasuke got into the ambulence car, next to where she was lying on her gurney. Hinata cursed under her breath; she hated irony.

After the nurse had checked her x-rays for the umteenth time, she shifted her glasses on the bridge of her nose, confirming that she did not in fact have a concussion. Finally, all Hinata wanted to do was get out of this miserable place. Looking around the empty room, she turned tot he wrinkly old prune. "Where is Sasuke?"

"Oh, that hunky son of Dr. Hatake? Bah, he's fine. Hehehe, don't you kids use that word these days, 'fine,' meaning hunky? Hehehe I just love keeping up with you youngsters! Speaking of Dr. Hatake...that young man's not too bad himself, in fact if I were, oh, twenty years younger I'd be-"

"Is someone talking about me again?"

Hinata gasped as a gray-haired man walked through the door, his eyes crinkled in what appeared to be a smile. He looked to be about thirty or so, but he was more gorgeous than any actor, celebrity, or movie star she had ever seen in her life. The lower half of his face was covered with a mask, but what _was_ visible was enough to make Hinata's heart accelerate. "Y-You're Sasuke's f-f-father?"

His good-natured chuckle was pleasent to her ear, and felt overwhelmingly compassionate to her. "Well, adopted. Along with the rest of his 'siblings.' Well, were you realizing where his good looks came from? Me? Oh stop it."

Hinata blushed, fiddling with the zipper on her neckbrace. Feeling another wave of embarrassment, Hinata looked at her toes. "Um, c-can I take t-this off?"

The attractive doctor looked up from a suspicious orange book. "Huh? OH, that old thing. Of course, miss, you're fine." He seemed to read her with his one visible eye; his wild bangs fell onto the right side of his face, obscurring one of his eyes. He tilted his head, studying her with an amused look in his eyes. "So, _you're_ Hinata! Hm...yes, I see."

The red gow on her face displayed her uncomfortableness. He chuckled. "Oh, you're free to go. You're perfectly fine. Bye, miss, don't be a stranger!"

Hinata slid off of the vinyl hospital bed, and started to walk down the hall. As she rounded a corner, she neary passed out when she saw Sasuke leaning against the wall, looking effortlessly stunning and composed. Flashbacks of her near death snapped her from her ogling, and she looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Are you...hurt?" He shook his head. "What-how, um, what happened?"

"I was right next to you, so I pulled you out of the way."

Irritation bubbled up inside of Hinata; she hated liars. "No, I saw you. You jumped out of a window...and you were so far away."

Sasuke's stoic face contorted into that of anger and annoyance. "You're delusional. You don't know what you're saying."

His sneering, almost taunting tone made her angry. "I'm n-not stupid. I know what I saw, Sasuke."

"You don't know anything."

"I know somethings different about you guys! You never eat, you guys always look hungry, I could've sworn Naruto had fangs, and, and, you can get hit by a truck and still stand in front of me!" Her cousin flashed before her eyes, and she felt a renewed confidence in her. "And, you, she, you guys stole his ring! It's like...you're all..."

"What? We're all what?" Hinata lowered her hands to her sides, too tired to hide her tears. Sasuke brushed past her, but not before stopping to whisper to her, "Just let it go. And...stay away."

She watched his back moving with uncanny grace, until he was no more than a speck in the far off distance.

The next day was a disaster for Hinata; apparently, not much happened in the rainy little village of Konoha. She was some kind of hero for surviving a truck accident. But no matter who she asked, no one could recall Sasuke even being there. Unsuccessfully, she tried to shift some ofthe limelight to Sasuke's heroic bravery. As for as anyone else was concerned, Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. She sighed. The whole day was filled with people following her, asking her to autograph unmentionable body parts. She wanted to cry.

As lunch time rolled by, Hinata rolled her apple around in her hands as she made a b-line towards her usual table. A frown formed on her face when she saw only five bodies instead of the usual six. She looked at Tenten's bare fingers, and wondered if she had dreamt it all up. Before she could walk towards Tenten to interrogate her, she saw a long, pale hand waving from her left. Turning to face whoever was trying to get her attention, Hinata had to do a double take to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.

Sasuke was sitting by himself at a table, waving at her. Despite her mind's internal battle, Hinata could feel her feet move without her consent, until she was standing in front of his table. He motioned for her to sit, and she numbly complied. When the shock had worn off, she looked up at him. "I don't get you."

"Hn?"

"First you seem to hate me. Then you save me from a truck. Then you get mad at me again. And now you want me to sit with you..."

Taking another sip of his 'protein shake,' Sasuke paused thoughtfully, before shrugging. "Yesterday, didn't I tell you to stay away from me?"

"Then why did you ask me to come here?"

"I was hoping you would refuse."

Hinata sighed, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. "Like that's possible..." she whispered under her breath. Sasuke seemed to laugh a little, as if he could hear her. The distraught Hyuga girl sighed. Sasuke smirked. "You seem to do a lot of that."

"C-can you blame me?"

"Hn...I suppose not."

"So...why?"

"Why did I tell you to come here? I'm finding it too hard to ignore you."

"...U-um...thanks?"

A heavy silence fell over them, and Hinata merely rolled her apple around the table from hand to hand. Sasuke looked at her with an amused expression. "You're interesting."

"I could say the same about all of you." She turned around to look at Tenten, then looked to him.

"Is this about yesterday? I said to let it go."

"I know what I saw, Sasuke."

"You had a concussion."

"I did _not."_

Sasuke groaned, running a hand through his lustrious black hair. "Can't you just thank me and get on with life?"

Her eyes narrowed at him. "Well, unfortunately it's too late for you to have regrets."

"What?"

"To regret saving me."

He slammed his cup onto the table, making her apple roll off of the table. "What makes you think that?"

"Because everytime I'm around you you look like you're in excrutiating pain."

"I don't hate-"

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Sasuke didn't make any move to get out of his seat. She gave him a questioning stare. "Aren't you going to class?"

"No."

"Y-You're skipping?"

"Yeah, so?"

Without another word, she got up from the table and picked up her bags. Before she walked away, she softly muttered, "About the ring...I'll find out eventually."

Stupid Sasuke. Why couldn't he trust her? All she wanted was the damned truth! Hinata was too distracted to listen as the teacher explained the lab they were doing. She gave a blank stare and blinked when he hovered over her desk. "Y-Yes?"

"Well, give me your thumb!"

"H-Huh?"

He produced a sharp pin. "I already have your signed content for this assignment from the registration papers. I'll come around and just give you a small prick. Then, we'll mix your blood with our solution. Don't worry, it's just a small drop. You need to find out your blood type anyway for the upcoming blood drive." Suddenly, Hinata's senses kicked in, and she could smell the rusty, salty scent of blood penetrate through her nose. Her cream-like complexion donned a greenish hue, and she was sweating along her forehead. The teacher retracted his pin and immediately grabbed a nearby boy by the collar. "Hinata, are you feeling queasy?"

She nodded weakly, her head still supported by her sweaty palms. The boy knew what to do. He swooped down and carried Hinata in his arms, already heading towards the nurse's office. All of the movements made Hinata fight to keep her apple down.

When they were halfway there, Hinata groaned when she saw him walking towards them, apparently on his way to the parking lot. She tried to turn her head, hiding her face from him, but nothing could escape his hawk-like vision. Raising a brow, he looked at her condition. "Is she sick?"

The boy carrying her had a protective tone in his voice. He lowered Hinata to the ground so he could cross his arms. "Well, excuse me, but I'm escorting her to the nurse's office, so see ya!"

Looking down at her, he ignored the other boy and lifted Hinata into his arms. The boy loudly protested, but Sasuke kept on walking. "Go back to class. I'll take her."

They walked on in silence, while Hinata tried very hard not to explode. She was certain that her face was shifting from vomit green to cherry red. "You look awful."

Feeling his strong, well-muscled arms supporting her, Hinata couldn't have disagreed with him. Whenever he was around, she couldn't help but fall to pieces.

I'm going to try and finish a chapter by today. If not, it will definately be up tomorrow!


	5. Chapter 5

Bah, am I the only one who's having trouble uploading? I'm very sorry everyone, but it's not something I have control over D: Anyway, Hey all! Thanks for the reviews, especially the ones that made me laugh, you guys are so funny xD Hehehe well I promised an update today, so here it is! And did you here? THE SEQUELS OUT! I'm days away from receiving my copy, and I can't WAIT. I'm expecting some great things from it xD Okay, that aside, thanks again for reviewing. It really does motivate me to write faster to please you awesome folks. And an extra special thanks to everyone who added me to their favorite author list, and even for peole who have given me the honor of adding my story to their favorites list. It really is an honor, since there are so many great stories out there.

**Disclaimer: Roses are Red, violets are blue. I dont own Naruto, so please don't SUE.**

Chapter Five: Your Questions

"So, why do you look so bad?"

"I get dizzy whenever I s-smell b-blood..."

His face didn't move, except for a single eyebrow floating upwards. "Blood doesn't have a smell...does it?"

"Yes it does. It smells like rust and salt."

The rest of the walk was continued in silence. How Sasuke did it, she didn't know, but he somehow supported all 102 pounds of her weight in the palm of his hand while the other opened the door knob. She looked down at his toned, chiseled arms, and was glad when the nurse's voice interrupted her embarrassing moment. "Set her own on the bed, Mr. Uchiha."

The paper crinkled as her weight was gently lowered onto it. Hinata lied down and rolled up into the ball. The whole room was spinning in circles around her, and she clamped a hand over her mouth to force down her apple. The nurse checked her forehead, and winced at the moisture clinging onto her hand. She wiped it on her apron with a grunt and sat on a chair, rolling over to her desk. She took out a stack of paper work to busy herself with. "Don't worry about it, toots. We get at least one of you every year. Just wait it out, you'll be better in no time."

Hinata tossed and turned, trying to cool off; if she stayed in any one spot too long, she felt like she was on fire. She froze when two ice-cold hands clamped onto her shoulders, keeping her in place. Sasuke sighed, clearly irritated. "If you keep moving like that, I'll get dizzy." He placed one of his hands on her forehead, and Hinata could feel her natural red flush returning to her. After waiting a few minutes, the room slowed, until it came to a complete stop. The nurse turned around and smiled. "See, you're all better now!"

Sasuke's nose quirked up into the air, slowly turning to the left. His eyes became wide, and he turned to Hinata. He lifted her off the bed and helped her to her feet. Whipering just so she could hear, he said, "You need to get out of here." "I think Miss Hinata is well enough to go home now."

"Go home? But she has another class left."

Hinata moaned when a foot connected with her shin. "I think it'd be a good idea to take her home." His smooth, soothing voice flowed through her ears like honey, and by the look on the nurse's face, Hinata was sure it was having the same effect. She smiled sweetly at him.

"Oh, all right. But what about you, dear?"

"Hinata lives by herself. She needs someone to take her home." The nurse melted into a pile of goo, and she waved them out of her office.

"Well then, don't worry about it. I'll take care of all the paper work. You feel better, dear." The nurse was about to say more, but she saw someone walking down the hall. "Oh dear, looks like we have another one. That's a lot of blood on his sleeve." She chuckled. "It's a good thing the bed's leared out!"

She couldn't believe what kind of effect his charm had on woman. Sure, he was too good looking for his own good, but his tone and personality multiplied it. With wide, silver eyes, Hinata turned to Sasuke with a look of gratitude and understanding on his face. "T-thank you..." If she had gotten to close to the blood, her dizzy spell would've started all over again.

"...Where are you going? My car's over there."

"I-I can drive!" Just to prove her point, Hinata tried walking in a straight line towards her car, stumbling over an imaginary log. She yelped when she felt someone grab the hood of her sweater, pulling her backwards. His grip was so strong, it was all Hinata could do to keep from falling oer and being dragged the rest of the way. While she struggled to walk backwards, her arms were flailing in all directions. With a sigh, she slid into the passenger seat of his shiny Evo.

"Wait, what about my car!"

"I'll have Tenten or Uzumaki drop it off at your house."

"N-Naruto?"

"...You're right. I'll have Tenten drop it off."

"N-No, they don't have the key."

He turned around too quickly for her to follow, and gave her a wicked crooked grin. "Don't worry about it."

The speedometer slowly cimbed its way up, clearly ignoring the traffic regulations. Hinata gripped the arm rests of her car tighter; she wasn't accustomed to driving over 30 miles per hour. "A-Ano, Sasuke-san..."

"One."

"H-Huh?"

"I know you're just dying to ask me one of your questions."

She blushed and looked out the window; big mistake. The poor girl nearly tossed the apple when she saw how quickly the trees were moving outside. She opted to look down at her hands. "W-Well..."

"Ask me."

"I-It's stupid..."

"Just tell me. I'm interested."

"Well..." she glanced sideways at him; he was staring at her, manuvering the car with only one hand, currently going at 85 MPH. Hinata gasped. "Are you...a...um...s-superman?"

He smirked at her answer. "I thought you'd be more creative than that." Sasuke looked at her closely, then turned to face the road. "You're hiding something."

"Huh?"

"You're not telling me what you think."

Hinata gulped; it was true. She had already formulated a theory days after meeting them. They never ate, their protein shakes made her dizzy, she could've sowrn some of them had fangs, and they, well at least one of them, had inhuman speed and strength. She used to read a lot of books on mythology as a youth, so the answer clicked in her head immediately. But it was so absurd, so unfeasable that she had yet to admit it to herself. She had a hard time even considering it inside her head; how was she supposed to tell him?

Then an image of his ring on her finger flashed through her head. No, she couldn't back down; not when so much was at stake here. She really had to do this, didn't she? "I need answers..." Hinata hadn't meant to say it aloud, but it was a good thing she did.

"Maybe I can give them."

Inhaling deeply, Hinata closed her eyes and readied herself to be laughed like. She covered her ears and sighed. "I think...I think you're all...vampires."

...Silence...

Poking one eye open, she peered up at Sasuke, who had grown stiff at her words. He was gripping the steering wheel a little to tight for comfort, and his eyes were darkening. There was a questioning look in his eyes, as if he couldn't quite understand her. So he through his hands up in confusion (causing Hinata to get a heart attack), and almost laughed. "You have got to be the dumbest person alive."

Excuse me? "Y-You told me to tell you w-what I thought!"

"No, you think I'm a vampire, yet you're sitting in a car with me?" Sasuke leaned in close to her, so that they were nearly nose to nose. He took a big whiff of her, causing a coldness to spread in her. "You know, I could just lean over and take a bite out of you...right here...right now?"

Swallowing a lump in her throat, she straightened herself in her chair to try to feign that she wasn't afriad. "I"m not scared." Somehow, she had managed that without a stutter.

"You don't think I'm scary?" His sly, crooked smile exposed his sharp, point fangs.

"Well, if you wanted to kill me...I-I suppose you would've done it already."

"Hm...maybe you're not so stupid."

"Er, thanks?"

Sasuke did what was apparently a laugh, then looked to the front again. "So what's your story?"

"A-Ano?"

"Where's your family?"

She leaned against the window, resting his chin in his arms. "They're dead?"

"All of them?"

There was a pause, as if she remembered something, and blinked. "Yes."

Sasuke turned away, to conceal his smirk. "If you say so."

"Why?"

"I'll ask the questions today."

He asked her every question he could think of, on every subject, and every nature. Some were very trivial, others more personal. Hinata answered question after question as honestly as she could; she didn't feel like lying, or hiding anything from him.

"So how old are you?"

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Seventeen. How about you?"

"Seventeen."

"...How long have you been seventeen?"

And then he actually laughed. "A long time. You're...kind of different."

_Because I'm fish-belly pale and I have big white eye balls? _"Why?"

"You sit at a table with vampires on a daily basis...and you pass out if you smell blood? You just can't seem to stay out of trouble, can you?"

Hinata's rosy cheeks intensified, creating a big contrast with her pale white skin.

He came to a halt in front of a small apartment complex and grinned. "Try not to get run over by anymore trucks, okay?"

Hinata got out of the car and turned with a hand still perched on the door. "...Will you be there to swoop me out of the way?"

His grin faltered, momentarily giving way to a scowl, but he didn't look as angry as he did before. "Not if luck if on your side."

She closed the door behind her and began to walk to the door steps. And with a hint of laughter she whispered, so softly that no human ear could hear:

_"Then again, luck's not something I'm used to having on my side."_


	6. Chapter 6

...WoW! Wow wow wow wow wow! 100 reviews already! I can't believe this :D Thank you everyone for taking the time to review, you're all awesome. I really love reading your reviews, even if they aren't positive. I used to be really sensitive about that, but now I see that criticism will only improve your writing abilities, so thank you to everyone who contributed your imput. And, of course, all of your nice reviews make me all warm and fuzzy and all that good stuff inside. Now, without further ado, I shall stop my joyous ranting, to present to you:

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But I do own this delicious ice cream, which is currently melting into my hands, due to all of the excitement :D**

  
Chapter Six: Your Promise

The next day at school, Hinata tried hard to focus on the lessons. Really, she did, but could you blame her? She could take notes on the novel they were studying (which she had already read twice), _or_, she could 'accidently' let her eyes wander to her left, where he sat. This had been going all day, but try as she might, classwork simply fell to the bottom of her priority list when competing Uchiha Sasuke. Besides, she wasn't _totally_ day dreaming: looking at his face was a novel in itself. His feautres were so artistic and perfect that it was better than any description a novel could offer.

He was resting his chin against his arms, looking straight ahead. Feeling her eyes on him, his eyes darted to their right, looking at her. Just to humor her, he gave her a slow wink.

The temperature around her rose ten degrees. Hinata tried to hide her face in her hands, but she knew nothing could escape his perfect eyesight.

The shrill bell rang, providing a distraction from her embarrassment. Hinata hastily shoved all of her things into her bag and rushed to escape from the sea of bodies, currently clogging in the doorway. All of the towering bodies closed in on her, pushing her in every direction. She was about to give up and fall into fetal position when something grabbed her hood and yanked her through the crowd. She struggled to look backwards, and saw the back of his toussled black hair. Hinata wasn't surprised when a pathway formed in front of him; Sasuke had such a strong presence that it was impossible no to notice it.

When they made it out the door, Sasuke released her hood, smiling that smug crooked smile. "You're a walking disaster."

Fixing her hood so that she wasn't choking to death, Hinata nodded. "So I've been told."

With his lips hovering near her ears, his quiet laughter tickled her ears. Even his breath was too cold to be human.

The cafeteria was deafening as usual. Sasuke noticed her uneasiness when their usual table came into view. The five of them were there already. Naruto and Kiba were too loud as usual. Shino and Gaara were too busy looking ridiculously cool to talk. All was normal except for Tenten. She was quietly staring into the contents of her cup, deep in thought.

He cleared his throat, causing her to look at him. He opened his mouth a few times, hesitating with what to say to her. Hinata looked down at her hands, thinking of the right thing to say.

"Sasuke?"

"Hn?"

"J-Just tell me. D-Did you guys...hurt h-him?"

"Him?

"Hyuga Neji, my cousin."

He seemed to be weighing the truth, before finally deciding. "No."

"And you didn't s-steal it from him?"

"No."

"Okay...then I won't ask." She quietly walked to an empty table, setting her tray in front of her. Sasuke took a seat across from her, studying her face expression. There was a early invisible crease between her eyebrows, the corner of her lips were drawn downwards, and her eyes were downcast. "You're sad."

"H-Huh?'

"You're sad because of this Neji."

Pausing, she nodded. It was pointless trying to lie to him. He seemed to read her like an open book. "Why do you care so much about him? He's just family."

She looked shocked. "That's exactly why. He is-was...the only family I had left."

"I see." He still sounded skeptical."

"Well...he's the only one that cared."

"That cared?"

"He talked to me. My father, he made sure I ate reguarly, and all of my needs. But we never talked. I spent more time with the maids than I did with him. The only time of the day we talked was dinnertime, and even then he was too busy chewing. Neji-nii-san sacrificed a lot to take care of me. He had to gt a modelling job, and...I'm sorry, I'm probably b-boring you.."

Sasuke answered her with another question. "Did they ever find his body?"

She dropped her fork. "E-excuse me?"

"You said he died."

"Oh yeah...n-no. They just found his blood all over the reservation park..."

"You really want to find out what happened to him, don't you?" She nodded before continuing to pick at her food in silence.

Hinata was so used to him waiting outside her last class that it only mildly jolted her insides. It had become an everyday ritual; he would wordlessly walk her to her car, cracking jokes about her dinky mini-cooper. Like usual, he walked alongside her. His face looked strained and slightly irritated. Hinata figured it was because of her slow pace. Clumsy people had to take extra care when they walk.

When they got to her car, Sasuke opened the door for. She got in and was about to close the door when his had blocked the way. Hinata gasped, fearing she had broken his fingers. But the door simply bounced off of his skin. She nodded approvingly; this whole vampire business could come in handy for someone accident-prone like her.

"See you tomorrow."

She gave him a confused look. "But isn't tomorrow..." he simply grinned, then disappeared into the shadows.

----------------------------------------------------------

"Morning."

Hinata jumped out of bed at the sound of his velvetty smooth voice. She looked at the door frantically and sighed with relief when no one was there. Zombie-walking to her mirror, she groaned; half of her hair was glued to her chin, and the other half was disheveled like a bird's nest. Heh. Good thing he wasn't he-"

"Over here."

With wide, horror-stricken eyes, she slowly turned around. When she saw his face, smirking face hovering outside her window, Hinata yelped, trying to cover her hair. Grabbing some clothes at random, she dashed towards the bathroom. After brushing out her hair, she looked closely at herself. Smoothing her hair over her shoulders, she noticed that it had grown out to her collar bone. Instead of tying it, she left it down and side-swept her bangs with a hair pin.

After changing into her clothes, Hinata walked back to her bedroom to see him lying on her bed, sleeping. She nearly had a heart attack when she checked the time; it was 7:15. School would begin soon, and here he was napping on her bed! She should probably wake him...but...

Hinata stared at his sleeping form, sighing. He looked much less hostile, maybe even peaceful. Taking slow, careful steps, she walked over to her bed and stifled a giggle. He was so much taller than her that most of his shins were hanging over the bed. With quivering fingers, she touched the dark black circles under his eyes. Hinata traced them, starting from the outer corner of his eyes, towards his nose.

"Boo!"

She recoiled her hand and stumbled backwords, falling over.

Laughing at her antics, Sasuke got up from her bed with that perfect, gorgeous half-smile of his. "Did you really think I was sleeping?"

Hinata removed her face from her hands, revealing the bright red blush coloring her face. "W-well, you weren't moving." Thinking for a second, she realized that he was still; _too _still. It didn't even look like he was breathing." She turned to him with her wide pearly eyes. "D-Do...do you..um, guys...breathe?"

The light glinted off his fangs when he smiled. "You know, you're pretty smart for a human."

"Jee...thanks."

He smiled this time, looking sideways at her. "Well you are right. We don't have to breathe."

"Really! For how long? Forever? Even when you swim! Or how about-"

Sasuke used his cool, icy fingers to shush her. Hinata blushed and timidly smiled. "G-Gomen."

His smile drooped down so that it was a tight line across his face. "Hey. Come on, I'll give you a lift."

Looking at her clock, she gasped. "Hurry, hurry!" Hinata went behind Sasuke, trying to push him towards the stairs. She might as well have been pushing her bedroom all; he wasn't moving at all! Giving up, she stopped trying to push him and groaned. "Will you j-just go?" The quiet Hyuga wasn't a straight A student for nothing.

A sly, evil grin spread across his face as he turned to face her. It made Hinata oggle and shiver at the same time. Licking one of his fangs, his deep coal eyes darted to the window, then back to her. "Hurry, you say?"

"Ano...by h-hurry I mean-EEP!"

Before Hinata had time to blink, Sasuke had flung her small body over his shoulder, and jumped onto her window sill. His movements were so fluid that she hadn't felt him moving at all. Hinata clawed into him like a cat, shaking with feer. She lived on the third floor...

"S-Sasuke?"

"Hn?" She didn't miss the playful edge in his otherwise neutral voice.

"Y-You're not going to...are you?"

The corners of his lips tugged upward into a smile as his feet left the safety of the windowsill. Hinata squeezed her eyes shut and dug her hands into his back as she prepared for the impact of the fall. The wind stopped running through her hair, yet Hinata never felt the fall. She braved a peek and saw that they were safely perched on the ground. Amazing...she hadn't felt a thing...

"Hinata?"

Blushing, she let go of his back and allowed herself to be lowered to the ground. Sasuke half-smiled at her, then opened the door of passenger side for her. Hinata nervously slid into the car, fearing for her life.

As soon as Sasuke turned on the ignition, the car zoomed out of her driveway. Hinata winced as the wind whipped into her hair. "D-Do you always have to drive this f-fast?"

He looked at her from the side with a smirk. "It makes us feel more like outselves."

She didn't question him further...until she looked out the window and noticed that her surroundings were foreign and unfamiliar. Then it clicked inside her head...

Today was _Saturday..._

Noting her puzzled expression, he grinned. It's about time!

"W-Where are we going?"

His grin was 100 percent mischevious, and equally enticing. "We're going to meet a friend on mine. I think you'll...take a liking to him."

---------------------------------------------------------------

School is coming up, so I'll be getting very busy. Especially since I take Ap classes, I'll have a lot on my plate. But fear not, I will try my absolute best to update weekly. Sayonara, minna-san, until next time :)


	7. Chapter 7

Edit: Ch. 7 was having a lot of problems, so I reuploaded it. Sorry if you experienced technical difficulties. Also, I apologize for not replying to your reviews. pparently, they don't exist anymore -cries-

Hey guys! Thanks for the many encouraging and constructive reviews :D Sigh...sadly for me, the world is ending in four days. Because I'm starting school, my updates will be less frequent, BUT! I will do my best to update every weekend. It'll be a bit challenging since I've sold my soul over to IB, but bear with me folks. I have every intention in seeing this fic to the end So thank you all for your invaluable support! I already have another story in the works, but I won't post it until my first two fics are completed. Oh, on another note, I finished reading New Moon, and though it depressedme, I could not put it down. So check it out if you have the time, it's definitely worth a read :D

**Disclaimer: Unless I am thrown into some alternate universe where I am male, Japanese, and named Kishimoto, I don't own Naruto. **

Chapter Seven: Your qualms

The forest grew thicker and thicker as they drove through. Pretty soon the brush was so thick that the road was just wide enough for the car to pass through. They had already reached the outskirts of Konoha, and there were no signs that he would be stopping any time soon.

Like the forest, Hinata's head was become more and more cluttered with thoughts and questions. Each passing second sparked a new question in her. She looked at Sasuke; who could he possibly know that would be of interest to her? The thoughts inside her head were making her nervous; wringing her hands, she tried to take her mind off of where exactly they were headed. "Sasuke?"

"Hn?"

"Are all vampires...you know...nice, looking?" There was a smug grin on his face as she said this. "N-No, I mean, um, Tenten. I've never seen anyone more beautiful than her. And Naruto-kun is very nice looking too. I can't really see Shino-kun's face, but I'm sure he is nice looking as well. And-"

"Me?" The color rose in her like a thermometer. Hinata turned away, taking a sudden interest in the scenery. Sasuke interpreted her answer with a smirk, but decided that further embarassment would cause her to spontaneously combust. "We have to be appealing to our prey, don't we? Turning into a vampire makes an average person gorgeous, and a beautiful person breath-taking." Hinata nodded; so that explained it. Sasuke was probably drop-dead gorgeous even when he was a human.

This was good; the questions were easing her mind. She racked her brain for more potential questions. One popped into her head, and came out before she could stop it. "Have you ever tasted a human?"

The leather steering wheel squeaked from the added pressure. His eyes darkened, and from what she could tell of his jawline, he was clenching his teeth. It was all too reminiscent of the first day of school. Hinata instantly regretted her question. From his suddenly cold demeanor and silence, she already knew his answer.

It was stupid, but she felt her heart fill with sadness. She knew that he was a vampire, so it shouldn't surprise her if he had a few slip ups in the past.

Perhaps the fact that he was a vampire had yet to kick in. Hinata didn't realize how serious this issue was until now. For the first time, she realized that death was seated conveniently at her left. One wrong move, and she'd be history. The fear tingled at her finger tips, but taking a glimpse at him, she couldn't bring herself to run away.

"I only ate criminals."

"H-Huh?"

His eyes were still staring straight ahead at the road. "I figured that if it was criminals, robbers, murderers, no one would miss them. If I killed that strange man lurking around the outside of a mansion, maybe I wouldn't be too much of a monster."

It sounded inhumane, but Hinata couldn't argue with that logic. In fact, she couldn't blame him. "So, what made you, um, stop?"

"A lot of things."

Her head bumped onto the dashboard as the car came to an abrupt halt. She stared at the large, victorian style house in front of her. It looked lavish and secluded. Looking around, the house was surrounded entirely by trees and...more trees. Hearing a tap on the window, Hinata gasped. Sasuke was standing outside of the car in front of her, wearing a slightly annoyed expression. Fumbling with the seatbelt, she untangled herself and quickly hopped out of the car. Jerking his head towards the house, Hinata took that as an invitation. She had to jog at a brisk pace in order to keep up with his quick, powerful strides.

After walking down a few corridors, Sasuke stopped in front of a large, mahogany door and turned to look at her with apprehensive eyes. She took it as his form of reassurance and, taking a deep breath, turned the handle. Poking her head inside, Hinata jumped a mile back and slammed the door shut. Hinata was taking deep breath, and was red enough to camoflauge with the door. Sasuke gave her a weird stare. He was expecting many different reactions from her, maybe some tears, or just plain shock, but this wasn't it.

Closing her eyes and fanning her face, Hinata's breathing was still uneasy. After the color had faded from her face, she snapped her eyes open and narrowed her eyes at Sasuke. He was taken a back by her sudden hostility. Taking slow, lethal steps towards him, she poked him in the chest, still glaring. "I-Is this your idea of a j-joke?" Her stutter came from her anger; she was positively fuming.

Sasuke's face was no his usual stoic indifference. His eyes were wide open in surprise, and his mouth was slightly hanging open. "Have you lost it?"

Hinata opened her mouth to say some unkind words when Naruto shyly emerged from the door. Sasuke had another shock. "Naruto, what the fuck are you doing in his room?" Taking a good look at the blond, he sweat-dropped. _Oh crap. She hates me. She'll hate me for ever._

Wearing only a towel around his waist, it all made sense. Hinata was all the way across the hall, blushing furiously. Sasuke resisted the powerful urge to knock the daylights out of him. "Naruto..."

Scratching the back of his head and splashing droplets of water a very irritated Sasuke, Naruto laughed nervously. "Ah, well, you see Shino's still in the upstairs bathroom, and you know how long he takes in a bathroom AND I WAS REALLY STARTING TO SMELL." The last part came out in a sad wail. "Oh...was the...it was today?"

_Twitch twitch._ "Yes."

"Should I run?"

"Yes."

"You got it, Sassie."

The half-naked blond jumped up, ascending towards the ceiling until he land with a loud thud on the top of the stairs. The Uchiha was about to ran after him when the door creaked open again. Sasuke decided to back down, disappearing into the shadows.

This time, when Hinata turned around, time really did slow. Her pearl white eyes widened as she peered into indentical ones. Eyes that belonged only to one other person in the world.

It didn't make any sense at all, and for all she knew she could have gone insane. Did it matter? She found that her legs were moving of their own accord, and she didn't protest at all. She quickened their pace, focusing all of her speed into darting down the endless hallway. Tripping a few times, Hinata was on autopilot. She would mechanically pick herself up and continue the task at hand. The person down the hall waiting smiled at the reminiscent scene before him.

Faster than she had ever run, Hinata leaped at him, closing the distance between them. He caught her with open arms, swinging her around like a little girl. As they spun around in endless circles, the years seemed to melt away, taking them back to their childhood.

Lowering her to her feet, he took a look at a rug burn on one of her knees and smiled. "Same old Hinata."

She ran her fingers over his face, studying the contours of his face. His eyes had sharpened around the edges, and his face had lost most of its roundness. Studying her cousin, Hinata felt a streak of pride in her. As a human, he had been handsome enough, but now her cousin was absolutely stunning. He had changed a lot and yet...

His eyes held that same smile she had grown up with as a child. A smile no amount of transformation could distort. A big grin made a way onto her face. "Same old Neji."

-----------------------------------------------------

They were sitting in the livingroom, each hoding but not drinking a cup of tea.

"Sorry...I wasn't there for you."

She frowned into her teacup. "You s-should be Nii-san. I was w-worried about you."

"I know. It's just...I was scared."

"Of what?"

He waved a hand in front of his face. "Of what? Try what I've become. Look at these." He hissed, baring his long fangs. If he expected her to flinch, he wou;d be mistaken.

She smiled at him. "You know I read a medical report about that. Now dentists can have them surgically done."

"Hinata..."

Her smile only grew warmer. "It's been a while since I've heard you use your warning voice. I've missed it."

Neji's scowl sagged, shifting into a smile. "You havn't changed at all."

"Disappointed?"

"Nope."

His eyes darted to the left. Catching a glimpse of two timid brown eyes, his face softened in a different way than when he saw Hinata. She knew what that face meant, and felt content. So Neji-nii-san had finally found it...

"Tenten."

Shyly, she came out from the doorway, careful to keep a safe distance between her and Neji. "Hey, Hinata...look, I'm really so-"

"Sorry! I'm so sorry!"

She blinked her big, caramel eyes. "Sorry? Why are you saying sorry?"

Hinata poked her fingers together. "Because...I was so cold to you. You d-didn't even do anything w-wrong..."

Tenten shooshed her, choking Hinata in a tight hug. "Oh, Hinata, you sweet girl! Don't be sorry, you silly girl!" She was patting Hinata on the back, but her unconscious strength was killing the poor girl. "If that big dumby had told us about you, I would have been the first to tell you!" Tenten glared at him from over Hinata's head. Neji sweat-dropped.

"Tenten...Hinata..."

"What? Oh, right! Sorry." She released Hinata, who went tumbling onto the couch.

Before they long, the three of them were conversing, like they were old friends. From where Sasuke stood, he heard their laughter, and walked away. He didn't feel like prodding into their conversation.

"So how did you meet?"

Tenten pushed Neji off the couch, wanting to tell the story herself. "It was late one night, and I was out hunting bears. Nothing out of the unusual. But then I heard some human moans, so I rushed right over. Boy, you should have seen him. Neji was covered, no, doused in blood." She edged towards him with a sly grin. "And you smelled quite delicious, might I add." He rolled his eyes. "You know Neji, you should feel lucky that I didn't sink my teeth into you right then and there. You know what I did, I hauled his body back to Kakashi's place, the whole time fighting the urge to eat him." She sighed. "It was love at first sight."

Neji grumbled. Certainly being rescued by a _girl_, vampire or not, was a huge blow to his ego. "Was not."

She brushed the strands of hair obscurring his face affectionately. It was nothing private, but the gesture seemed so intimate that Hinata felt like looking away. "Well, it was for me at least." Tenten punched his arm. "You're still sore that I saved you, aren't I?"

"...I didn't ask you to save me..."

"Lies!"

_Her eyes held so much sympathy and compassion that the blood staining her teeth did not frighten him at all. "I'm so sorry..I'm too late." She said the inevitable words. "You're dying..."_

_She had such flawless, radiant porcelain skin that it was a shame there was specks of blood all over it. Despite the feral look to her eyes, and the sharp, blood-stained fingernails:_

_She was beautiful._

_Carefully propping him up against her lap, she spoke in a soft, patient voice. "Would you like to live?"_

_He didn't move an inch._

_"Will you let me save you?"_

_The nodding of his head was so faint that were it not for her enhanced eyesight, she would've completely missed it. The woman nodded, bringing his neck closer and closer until it was within reach of her bared teeth._

Tenten clasped her hands together. "Romantic, isn't it?"

More like frightening, but Hinata didn't want to sound rude.

A sudden knock on the door interrupted them. A head of snowy white hair emerged from the doorway.

"Sorry to interrupt your stroll down memory lane, but..." his visible eye sharpened. "I've got matters to discuss with Miss Hyuga."


	8. Chapter 8

Hi everyone! I'm glad you all like the story, I was really happy with all of the positive feedback I was getting :D I'd like to thank all of my anonymous reviewers, especially Hana, DJ, Mayumi, MeMe, Silvermoon, and Sweetangel823, since I have no other way to thank you personally. Thanks again for being constant reviewers, you guys rock! All of you! Aishiteru, Sarang Hae, Mahal Kita, Wo Ai Ni!

**Disclaimer: (Here's my attempt at a freestyle) Yo, my ho-mee, I don't own Naru-to-...me?**

Chapter Eight: Your Heed

The sound of her footsteps echoing in the vacant hallways was unnerving. The fact that only her footsteps were audible only intensified her anxiety. She knew he was trailing behind her at a safe distance, but the silence made her feel alone.

Kakashi stopped and turned around, his visible eye crinkled into what was surely a reassuring smile. Exhaling for the first time since who knows when, Hinata walked into the door that Kakashi held open. Just before he closed the door behind him, she was sure something black had slipped through the crack. It was impossible; how someone could be both svelte and toned at the same time?

"Hinata, was it?"

"H-Hai..."

She really wished she could rip off that surgical mask so his reassuring smile could have its full potential. "I just want to talk with you. So don't be afraid. I don't bite!" His red-tinted eyes widened when he saw her face lose color. "Ah..too soon for jokes I see. Hehe..."

Maybe it was to break the thick, heavy tension, but Kakashi reached behind him and produced a large, worn out cigar box. He placed it on the table in front of Hinata, beckoning her to take it. Self-conciously picking up the well-worn box with her quivering fingers, she flipped the lid open cautiously, expecting some voodoo vampire talisman trinkets. Inside was...

...pictures. They appeared to be plain, ordinary photos at first but upon closer inspection, Hinata realized that some were paintings. Small, wallet-sized portraits of the group of friends she had grown quite fond of. Taking the first portrait out of the box, she could feel the smile spread across her face. It was absurd: Naruto and Gaara were leaning against a railing, wearing...collars. Frilly, lace-trimmed collars. She felt sadness when she noticed the spots where the paint had chipped away. It was a shame, the thought of destroying this priceless painting. Sifting through the top pile, she realized most portraits were of Naruto and Gaara.

"They were the first."

"The...first?"

This time his smile held a hint of bittersweetness. "My first companions."

_Flashback_

_Kakashi was sitting in one of his usual caves amid mounds of rotten food and litter. He was leaning against a wall, staring into the darkness of the cave when he heard a woman scream. Kakashi quickly ran out of the cave; this wasn't the first time vampires had attacked in this area._

_When he tracked the sound of the woman's uneven breathing, he turned and saw a young boy, no older than 17. You could have preceived him as any normal vampire, with his slitted blood red eyes, bared fangs, and outstretched talons, but something gave it away as his first hunt. You could clearly see in hesitation in his muscles as he inched towards the beautiful, frightened woman. It puzzled Kakashi as to why a vampire would hunt a human when they were clearly against it._

_But first thing's first, he picked up the woman and ran full speed towards civilization. The woman was too in shock to notice that she was moving, and still had that terrified look on her face as he left her in the middle of a crowded town hall. He ran back to where the boy was, positive that he would still be there._

_The boy's eyes were wide and shaken. "You're one too."_

_"One of what?"_

_"A monster." The blood in his eye washed away, revealing a clear, blue pigment. _

_Kakashi smiled at the boy. "Not if you don't want to be."_

_The boy shook his wild blond hair. "No, I have to be. He tells to me to find more."_

_"More what?"_

_His lower lip trembled. "More who smell like me."_

_Kakashi's visible eye widened in shock. "Who's your maker?"_

_"The Snake."_

_"And why does he want you to find people who smell like you?"_

_"He wants to build an army, to take over Konoha."_

_Kakashi had heard about the Snake. No one had ever seen him before; he was so quick and agile that he attacked his prey like a snake. He would bite his victims, and leave them to writhe in pain as they underwent their transformation. After about three days, the maximum it took to transform, he would come to collect his new member of the coven. The civilians called him witch, but he was something far worse._

_"Do you like to kill humans?"_

_"I've never killed one yet..."_

_"Then come with me."_

_The idea clearly tempted the boy, but there was a battle going on inside of him. "I...I can't. Not without Gaara."_

_His eye crinkled. "Then we'll go find this Gaara, and together we can leave. That sound good?"_

_"I..Okay."_

_The break-in hadn't been easy, but it was as Kakashi expected. The Snake had hundreds of minions at his beck and call. Gaara, who had the ability to manipulate sand, had sustained the least injuries with but a few scrapes while Naruto fared the worse. Kakashi had two broken ribs, a deep gash in his side and a deep cuts in his limbs, but it was nothing to what Naruto had. He had one dislocated shoulder, one broken leg, a fracture in his skull, and many cuts in him. But still.._

_The boy was remarkable. By the time they had reached another of Kakashi's hide outs, several hundred miles away, his wounds had closed and by the look of his shoulder, he fractures in his bones were regenerating at an alarming rate. Faster than anything had every seen. By dawn he was goo as new. One thing was sure, he knew exactly how good Naruto had smelled while he was human. A perfect candidate for vampire material. _

_End flashback_

"But, you said this snake had hundreds of helpers, how did you...escape?"

"Well, once your a vampire you're near indestructible. To kill a vampire, you need time and numbers. You must cut them into a millions pieces, them burn them. Or else we can heal any injury we sustain. Hinata nodded, sifting through the photos and came across the first picture of a woman who vaguely looked like Tenten.

Kakashi picked up where he had left off. "That day, the three of us have made a pact that we've kept to this day. One, we are never to feast on humans. Ever. Two, we are not to bite anyone without their consent, and if there are no other possible alternatives. And lastly, this is where you come in, Hyuga Hinata. We are to find people who smell exceptionally delicious, protect them, and make sure we save them from the same fate as us."

"Ever since then, we've been sniffing around for humans who smell especially nice or have special abilities, because this was the type of people whom the Snake targeted. There were a few close ones, but people like Naruto or Gaara don't come around too often. Then, half a century later, we found her." He pointed to the portrait. "She was not only very attractive, but Naruto and Gaara followed her scent around for weeks. I, for one, hardly notice human scents anymore. Anyway, we followed her around, observing her, keeping her out of dark alleyways and what not. Most of her free time was used doing archery or throwing spears. I never saw her miss the bulls eye."

Hinata looked sadly at the painting. She knew which direction this story was going in.

"We tried to prevent it of course, but we couldn't follow her everywhere. That would creep her out. It'd creep me out, anyway. But we noticed she hadn't come home in two days, so I used my nose to search for her. Naruto always told me I was like a dog. In more ways than one...But back to the story. When I found her in the forest, I checked her pulse and knew I was too late. Her heart was minutes away from stopping, where the transformation would be complete. So we did what we could. It's always easier to convert newly made vamps because they've never tasted a human before."

The first primative photographs were taken around the time that Shino and Kiba came into the pictures. It was quite a laugh seeing Kiba with his hair slicked back to match the current eras.

"Kiba and Shino were easy to get a hold of. Although Kiba was much tricker to convert; he always was the more vicious one." Kakashi shuddered as he remembered his past experiences with the Inuzuka. "It was the last one, before your cousin of course, that was the problem." Hinata gulped; this was the story she had been most anxious to hear.

"We found Sasuke when he was just a boy. He wouldn't talk about why he was alone, or where his family was. He didn't talk much. But we did what he could to train him. I fought him the basics, Naruto helped him build stamina, Gaara and Kiba and Shino would spar with him, and Tenten would improve his accuracy. He showed tremendous potential but even he knew; there was a steep hill between us which he could never cross."

"A-And, so what happened?"

Kakashi grew deeply troubled as he reflected on the past. Hinata could clearly see that Kakashi had a special bond with the boy since he had raised him from adolescence. It was his first encounter with a human child. "Eventually, Sasuke would observe our enhanced abilities with envy in his eyes. He...He asked us to transform him." A gasp unconsciously left Hinata's lips as she leaned in closer to hear. "Sasuke was very persistent in his demands, but all of us were very firm in our decision." He smiled wryly at Hinata. "Humanity is a very precious thing, Hinata. Something that we had all lost unwillingly."

The handsome, statuesque man in front of her inhaled deeply. "When it became clear that none of us were willing to bite him (though Naruto did come laughable close), he did what he could to get his way. He left."

"To, t-the Sn.."

"Yes. To the Snake. He was 13 when he left; we didn't seen him for four years. We thought we'd never see him again until one day he showed up on my door step, drenched in blood. You could hardly recognize him though; his face had lost its childhood roundness, his eyes had darkened and formed wrinkled, and he was too thin and pale. We all knew...he was changed."

"I see...so that was when he hunted...hu...hu-"

"Humans." Kakashi groaned, looking closer to his age for the first time since Hinata could remember. Obviously, Sasuke's betrayal had deeply affected his surrogate father. "He never turned anyone into a vampire, though. He spared them their souls; he always sucked them dry, killing them."

"You're not the first human who's had this affect on me." They turned to see Sasuke, who had come out from thin air. He looked directly into Hinata's eyes.

"Ah, but she is the first who you've kept around for more then 2 days." Kakashi leaned in close to Hinata, cupping her ear with his hands. "Usually he does something to scare them off for good," he whispered. Kakashi put a finger on his chin thoughtfully. "Although, I thought the Haruno girl would never leave." He rubbed his arms, wincing. "That one can bite."

Sasuke grabbed Hinata's arm, and dragged her out of the room. Kakashi retained his smile until the two teens left the room. He sighed; Sasuke sure was rash.

It was everything she could do to keep from becoming road kill as Sasuke pulled her along the long corridors. He stopped in front of the closet and, after looking for witnesses, pulled her in. As soon as he shut the door, he pushed her against a wall, trapping her by placing both hands on either side of her. "I killed people. Most of us did at some point in their lives. What makes you think you're any different! What makes you think you won't be dead tomorrow!"

Hinata looked away from him, focusing on a towel behind him. She leaned against the wall, creating space between them, but she cautiously reached for his hand. "I don't know...everything, about you guys and what happens, but Kakashi said you guys would help me. And, I trust him." Hinata looked into his eyes. "I trust you."

Cupping her small face with his long, thin fingers, he closed the gap between them. At first it was just a normal kiss, but he pulled her in closer, deepening the kiss. His long fangs were running over her tongue, leaving small trails of blood along her tongue. When the taste of her blood reached his tongue, Sasuke's eyes went wide before turning blood red, with three tomoe (1) rapidly circling around his pupil. Hinata cringed as Sasuke moved his hands to her wrists, strangling them with his death grip. She tried to pull her hands out of his grasp, but it was useless. He was too strong. The strong, forceful kiss was hurting her jaw, and her tongue was starting to burn from all of the small cuts.

He slammed her against the wall when she tried to pull away, leaving a few cracks in it. Hinata started to feel light headed, and just when she was positive that her hands would become dismembered, Sasuke pulled away from her, running to the other side of the closet.

"FUCK!" He punched the wall, leaving a nice-sized hole in the wall. Taking a few deep breaths, he waited until his eyes had gotten their usual coal hue. He turned to face her. Stroking her hair, he could feel a small bump forming on her head, and saw the dark purple rings around her smooth, white skin.

"Do you see how fragile you are? It's so easy for me to kill you, that if I get carried away, I'll do it without even noticing. And you still won't run away from me?"

Taking a deep breath to calm her rapid heart beat, she resisted the urge to rub her sore wrists and tried to calm herself down, repeating in her head that she was now out of harm. "If you w-want me to leave, S-Sasuke, just ask me and I'll do it."

Sasuke lowered his hand from her hair, turning away. He grew tense, rubbing his knuckles under his chin. "I can't do that...so I'm waiting for you to run away."

Despite all of the fear, the worry she felt, the rapid beating of her heart, and the fact that she had been a mere inch from her potential death, she knew what her answer would be.

"I'm not going anywhere..." _unless you're there too..._

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1. Tomoe are the coma-looking dots in the Sharingan.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey everyone! I'm sorry for not updating in so long, but I had to think about where I wanted this fic to go. Now I know exactly how I want this fic to end, sothe chapters will come more frequently. Thanks for all the support, and the nice, encouraging reviews xD I can't believe I've already reached the 200 mark; I mean, it's all thanks to you guys. You've all helped me reach my goal, and then some! You guys are so awesome you put the "awe" in...awesome! Yeah, I know, but I'm just really excited. So thank you all once again! If you would be so kind as to, keep the reviews coming, please?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto yadda yadda yabba dabba doo...**

Chapter Nine: Your Game

Steam errupted from the bathroom as Hinata ran out, with towel-wrap on her head and all. She batted the steam away, hacking up a storm. All the while Neji was downstairs, sitting on a stool. Every time she would look down at him, she was astounded and how still and motionless he was. With his cream-colored skin and impressive features, one could easily mistake him for the relics that went on display in the finest museums. A sense of pride welled up inside of Hinata at the sight of her handsome cousin.

After hastily changing into a re-chosen outfit (Hinata liked to be prepared), she bustled down the stairs. Neji smirked, pointing to his Rolex. "Four minutes. You're slow, human."

Hinata smiled thoughtfully at the last word. The whole situation was so complicated and difficult that it was hard to deal with. So, they chose the easy way out. They laughed it off.

His smile softened, almost apologetically. He tried to cut through the tension with more of his dry humor. "And that's not counting the half hour it took me to wake you up."

She pouted, crossing her arms. "Well some of us have to brush our teeth, take a shower, and get dressed. We can't not sleep, we sweat, and we have to do a little more than just pop a mint in our mouth after drinking 'protein shakes!'"

The veins around Neji's eyes elevated towards the surface of his skin. "Hey, we brush our teeth just the same. It's only Naruto that pops a mint after every meal and calls it a day." He ruffled the shorter girl's hair, ruining her two-minutes worth of work.

"Fine fine," she sighed. Hinata plopped her floppy hat on top of her head, running her fingers over the petals of the sunflower on it. Neji's eyes widened.

"You still have that old thing? I bought you that, like, three years ago."

She looked up at him from under the brim of her hat. "I know. But I like it."

Smiling, he gently pushed her out the door and closed it behind him.

Humming softly to herself, she walked towards his sleek black BMW. "So, where are we going today?" He simply shrugged, hoping to heighten her curiosity. A victorious smirk formed onto his face when he saw how displeased she looked.

Hinata had her eyes squeezed shut, holding onto her arm rests for dear life. She sighed; this was not a habit she would get accustomed to anytime soon. As Neji made a wide arc at an unhealthy velocity, Hinata yelped. "D-Do all of you d-d-rive this fast?" she choked out.

Neji turned to her (much to Hinata's chagrin, who howled at him to watch the road) and smiled. "Naw, Kakashi's only goes up to 75. He's getting old."

When they screeched to a stop, Hinata exhaled, fanning her face. "I should stick to walking from now on."

There was something about Neji's smile which made her stomach bunch into knots. "It's funny that you mention that..."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Come along."

As they walked towards their mysterious destination, Neji was saddened at how distant his human memories were. He tried to recall all of the times he and Hinata had walked together like this, but only a few hazy flickers came to his mind. Neji grabbed the back of her collar, pulling her back on the sidewalk as a bus zoomed past her. She gasped, growing pale at the thought of what she had almost done. He realized how much he missed protecting her.

But what saddened him most of all-

"Sasuke did say you were a walking disaster..."

-was that she didn't need him anymore.

She shrugged. "Oh come on, it was one time! It's not like I get run over on a daily basis."

"Oh yeah, like a weekly basis is any better."

They stopped in front of a white bridge that cross a pond. She watched the soft, cream-colored ducks float along the surface. The memory clicked in her head as one of the ducks ducked underwater for a submerged morsel of bread.

_Flashback_

_"Nii-san, why are you throwing bread at the duckies."_

_He sighed. "I'm not throwing them, I'm feeding them." He ripped off a piece of bread and threw it at the water. Hinata's eight year old brain became obsessed with the idea of feeding ducks. She took to bread from his hands and threw a chunk of it into the dark, murky water._

_She deflated when none of the ducks responded to her offering. "Neji, how come t-they're not eating the b-bread?"_

_Before he could answer, she shredded the bread into her hands and threw some of the crumbs into the water. Her eyes watered as the crumbs slowly sank to the bottom. Hinata looked like she was on the verge of tears. "They won't eat."_

_"NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOoo!" Neji yelled in slow motion, running towards his determined cousin. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him, but he was too late. He helplessly watched as his younger cousin threw the bread as hard as she could, throwing off her balance. Her arms flailed wildly as she tried to realign herself, but the inevitable 'plunk' was heard as she went plummeting into the moldy green water._

_Sighing, he dipped his hand into the icky duck-infested water and fished through it for her collar. When he caught the neck of her kimono collar, he fished out his cousin, shaking out the loose water and plopping her onto the pavement. She grimaced and sniffed herself, immediately wishing she hadn't._

_End Flashback_

Hinata's cheeks reddened, remembering the traumatizing moment. "Err..thanks for that.."

"Just don't expect me to do it the next time you fall in." Hinata's shoulders throbbed her laughing so hard, as Neji joined her. In the midst of his soft laughing, Neji's face froze. Hinata stopped laughing, alarmed by the sudden change in his expression.

It was like ice, spreading through the nerves in his face. He looked so detached that if felt as if he were slipping away from her. Neji's eyes glared at nothing, and his face was contorted in anger, but he was in his own world. Quickly shifting his gaze to a bunch of trees to his right, Neji gave a low, inhumane growl. She winced as the feral sound pounded through her ears. It was such a fierce, threatening noise that Hinata tried to rub away the goosebumps on her arm.

"N-Neji?"

His anger melted away, and he looks at the soft, scared look in her eyes. He turned once again to his right, and slouched. Sighing, he took off without another word and was gone in a matter of seconds. Hinata whirled around in a circle, looking for an explanation. As she came around full circle, she saw his dark, coal eyes and lost her footing.

He reached out to catch her, his hands tightly secured around her waist.

"Boo?"

Hinata breathed a sigh of relief. "Sasuke? W-What are you doing here?" He lowered her to the ground and rubbed the back of his neck (being near Naruto for a century or so did that to you).

"I just had a... discussion with that _delightful_ cousin of yours," he said through clenched teeth.

"Oh, Tenten told me that members of the same coven could communicate telepathically! What's it like? Is there a limit on the distance? Do you hear or, or more like feel it? How can you tell who's talking?"

Hinata didn't realize it in her excitement, but with each question she took a step closer to him. She found herself so close to him that their noses practically touched. He raised a brow at her. Reddening at their proximity, Hinata took a few steps back.

"Sorry." She always got a _tad bit_ excited when dealing with this whole vampire business. She knew what her smell did to him. "I'll be good."

She blinked, and he was right in front of her, towering over her 5'4 frame. "That's a disappointment."

He smirked as her blush intensified, taking a few steps back before the poor girl exploded.

"It's annoying. There isn't really a limit to distance, unless you're on the other side of the world. You can hear their voice, but not in the way humans do. And with Naruto, you can always tell who's talking?"

"...Oh!" Hinata scrunched her eyebrows in concentration. "Well..."

"Hn?"

"How do you hear it?"

"Oh. You don't hear it in your ears, but more like...here." He poked her below her left shoulder, right above her heart. Realizing how dangerously close he had come to touching her..."there," Hinata blushed.

"Y-You did that on p-p-purpose..."

He snorted. "Like I could feel anything under that jacket of yours. It's 84 degrees outside."

She shrugged. "Neji picked it out for me."

_"Typical."_

Sasuke watched her pick at the loose yarns on the sleeve of her sweater. Hinata always did little things like that when she wanted to ask him something. Irritated, he snatched at her wrist, causing her to jump.

"Just ask me."

She opened her mouth many times in an attempt to speak, but it was futile. She sagged her shoulders in defeat. "I!...I can't."

"?"

"...I want to hear."

"Hear what?"

"Hear you..s-say my name." He looked confused, but opened his mouth to speak. She shook her head, stopping him. "Not through my ears...in here." She shyly poked him in the chest, rubbing her sore finger afterwards.

Sasuke's face grew dark. His jaw became stiff; she was positive that his teeth were clenched. "You'll never get to."

Her eyes fell to the floor as she smiled sadly. "I know..."

They stood there, staring at each other as the wind picked up her hair. The chin-length strands danced through the air; she was close enough that the ends of her hair gently grazed his face. He brushed the stray locks and tucked them behind her ear.

Hinata remembered how stiff his movements were the first time he smelled her. Here, the wind was blowing her smell into all directions, but he didn't finch. She stared at him in wonder. " I guess you're finally becoming immune to my scent."

He smirked. "No...no you still smell the same." He lowered his hand from her hair, lingering on her chin. "I've just gotten better."

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His thin, milk-white tongue flickered into the air, taking a big whiff of her scent.

Those amber, slitted eyes narrowed into a sinister grin. _Delicious._ The man on his right adjusted his glasses, which glinted in the sun's sparse rays. "So you've confirmed the target?"

The snake grinned, his long fangs shining maliciously. Enhancing his eye sight, he watched the happy couple. His former protege growled playfully at the girl, who ran away. With a huge leap, the boy lunged at the girl, pinning her to the ground.

"Ah, there's nothing quite like young love, is there...Sasuke-kun?"

The unknowing pair rolled through the meadow, laughing, as bits of grass and flowers sticked to their hair. The amber eyes locked onto the retty blue haired girl. His smile was anything but friendly.

_Let the games begin..._


	10. Chapter 10

Hello my precious readers. Sorry that I took a little longer than anticipated, but...AHH I HAVE NO EXCUSE FORGIVE ME:( On a side note, by the way things are going, this fic will only have like, 3-5 more chapters left. Maybe even less. Something like that. I know, it makes me sad D: But I have more plot ideas in mind, so fear not readers! Thanks a lot for helping me with this, since it's only my second fic. You guys have really helped me, so thanks for the support. You guys rock so hard, you're like, effing boulders!

**Disclaimer: I don't know what you guys heard.**

**But I do not own Naruto...word?**

Chapter Ten: Your Disappearance  


Hinata timidly walked Sasuke's room; she swooned at how his signature scent filled her nose as soon as she walked in. She went over to his bed and snuggled his pillow, burying her face into it. Sasuke raised an eyebrow; was he this strange when he was a human as well?

As Hinata plopped onto his bed, still snuggling the pillow, he noticed the permanent flush on her face. It alarmed him how fragile and breakable she was, but maybe that was what drew him to her. True, a little too much excitement and he might snap a leg or two, but she was so livid. So full of life. He turned to the mirror, touching his own pale, colorless face. He decided he much preferred looking at hers. In all his years, he had never been particularly fond of humans. Their smell irritated him, and they talked too loudly for his superior ears. But Hinata...she was different. Her voice was far too quiet, and she didn't have that inflated ego humans were infamous for in the vampire community.

"Do you have some odd attachment to my pillow?"

She ducked behind the pillow, hiding what was absolutely positively a blush. "It smells like y-you..."

He smirked, snatching the pillow from her and leaning over her. The blush deepened as he placed his hands on her shoulders; she shivered, and it had nothing to do with the coldness of his fingers.

His fingers danced over her skin, from the indents in her collar bones, to her shoulders, and down to her wrists. They were as cold as icicles, but left traces of warmth behind. Sasuke leaned forward, brushing his nose against the nape of her neck. "And how do you think you smell?"

"L-Like...Mango M-Mandarin...?"

A low, playful growl rumbled through his chest before purring into her ears. She tugged at her collar; was it just her, or was the temperature _ever so slightly _rising? Hinata wiped her sweaty palms against the sides of her pants. Sasuke seized one of her wrists and brought it to his face, rubbing the back of her knuckles under his nose. "Nope. You smell like...vanilla. And freesias. It's really making me thirsty..." Hinata didn't like that naughty grin on his face (Okay, maybe just a tad bit. But that's it!).

"S-Sasuke...you're not going to...ano...what if they hear?"

He growled again; the alluring, gravelly noise sent shivers up her spine. She defensively put her hands in front but it proved to be for naught as he tackled her. As they rolled onto the floor, Sasuke took special care in wrapping his arms around her head to protect her from the hard wooden floors. When they finally rolled to a stop, he was hovering above her, supporting his weight on his elbows to prevent crushing the fragile thing.

His fingers were tightly gripping the rug underneath them from concentration, but his face didn't show the struggle. Her hands were bent upwards, next to either side of her head. Sasuke placed his hands on top of hers and leaned in until their lips met. He kissed her slowly at first, carefully. To test himself. When he showed no signs of losing control and focus, he leaned in closer, deepening the kiss.

Hinata tensed when she heard the door open, but Sasuke didn't budge. He kissed her some more, softly caressing her smooth face. Just before pulling away, he gently nipped her lower lip. Hinata blushed, brushing her fingers against her lips. She was so deep in her own reverie that for a second she forgot about the door. Hinata bolted upwards.

Gaara was standing in the open doorway. Sasuke nonchalantly stood up, sprawling onto his bed. "Hey." The fiery red head's eye twitched. And twitched. Hinata was too embarrassed to move from the rug.

And then the footsteps came. Five heads poked into the doorway. Tenten looked around. "I don't see anything."

Gaara turned to glare daggers at Neji. "Told you it was a false alarm."

"Well it sure sounded like he was having a Hina-sandwich!" Naruto bellowed.

Kiba groaned. "Well this was worth climbing up a whole spiral staircase."

Sasuke threw a book at his face, which made him fall backwards. "Sorry to have wasted your precious two seconds."

Shino sighed. "I'm going to go check on my ant farm."

Tenten patted his hair. "Well you go do that. I'll go get Sasssskee something to drink before he eats the poor girl." Hinata's arms flailed before Tenten's face.

"N-N-No! I'll go get it." She just needed to get away from all these people for a minute...and slow her pulse, for the matter. She stumbled out of his room and darted down the spiral stairs.

Hinata opened the refrigerator door, letting the cold air rush against her burning face. She leaned in further, soaking in the cool air currents. She was too shaken to notice the shadow hovering dangerously above her...

Before she could scream, a hand clamped over her mouth, muffling her cries.

--------------------------------------------------

Kiba stuck his nose up, sniffing the air. He crouched onto all fours like a wolf, and began to sniff everything around him. Naruto smacked him with a rolled up newspaper when he began sniffing his hair. "No, bad dog!"

He turned to Kiba with a joking smile; his eyes widened at the serious look on his face. "What's the matter, Kiba?"

"Something smells.."

"You mean Hinata? I thought you said you were used to her smell."

"No...it's not her. It smells...really bad, and evil. Like your socks."

Seven pairs of eyes flickered to the stairs as they heard a loud crash. Sasuke's eyes bled into a crimson red. "Shit."

--------------------------------------------

If only you could have seen it; it was a marvellous sight, seven hauntingly beautiful bodies floating down the stairs. Each had a run unique to themselves. Gaara's movements were unruly and sporadic, like sand; he seemed to be everywhere at once. His every movement was so lithe and fast that it looked as if the wind were scattering him everywhere. Naruto ran on all fours; his run looked purely instinctual and animalistic. You could see his claws dig into the ground, propelling him forward. The sheer force and ferocity was moving.

Kiba was a human whirlwind. With the simplest of ease, he would spring into the air, spinning horizontally as he ricocheted off of the walls. Shino's movements were jerky and unpredictable, like a wasp. He jerked from side to side, flying into a flurry of zigzags. For all of his zigzags, Shino was just as fast as any runners who ran in a straight line. Tenten moved from wall to wall like a bullet; she moved the fastest, but had more ground to cover, balancing her out. She would jump from wall to wall. Her run was so graceful and sleek that they looked like dance moves.

Neji, usually at the back of the pack due to his lack of experience, was second only to Sasuke. His total focus was directed towards reaching _her_ in time, and it showed in the coordinated execution of his movements. He was so balanced that the grass remained undented as he ran over it.

Sasuke, as always, was the fastest runner. Naruto may hit the hardest, and Gaara may be the deadliest, but Sasuke was undoubtedly the fastest. Whereas Tenten's run was graceful, Sasuke's was anything but. Sasuke's run was so powerful and fast that only a few of his movements were visible; like a slideshow.

The seven meta-humans each scoured through the house. Some even exited the mansion, tearing up the trees and surrounding wildlife.

They overturned tables, chopped down trees, searched through every nook and cranny.

But they weren't one of the most powerful covens for nothing. In a matter of mere seconds, they all stood in front of the closet under the stairs. Sasuke was a pounce-first-ask-later kinda guy; he grabbed the doorknob and, with the same effort it takes someone to turn it, he pulled the door off of its hinges.

A snowy, gray-haired man was smiling at them from behind his round specs. He threw his head back laughing, clearly delighted by a joke that no one else understood. "You guys found me really fast! I knew you would!"

Neji grabbed him by the collar. "Where the fuck is she?"

If he was intimidated by Neji's incriminating eyes, he sure didn't show it. He leaned forward, sniffed Neji, and broke out into a bigger smile. "Only a first year and you're already this strong. He'll be pleased. You'll make a fine lab experiment."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in anger. "You don't mean-"

"Yes, yes your creator. I knew you'd find me. You're going to make this game fun, Sasuke-kun."

Naruto pounded his fist into the strange man's face, shattering his glasses. "I remember you. You're that Snake bastard's bitch! It's all his damn fault we're all like this!"

Kabuto looked around at the seven fierce faces before him. "Well, I can see I'm clearly outmatched here." His eyes smiled connivingly. "You can enjoy your victory." He pushed passed them, and melted away into the wind.

_"For now, that is."_

"Look, there she is!"

Towards the back, they saw a burlap sack wriggling furiously. Sasuke grabbed it, ripping it open with his claws. They pulled Hinata out, bombarding her with questions. Tenten squeezed Hinata into her arms, rocking her back and forth. She assured them that she was okay, but she was clearly shaken. Sasuke looked up to the sky, towards the direction that the white-haired man had disappeared into. His gaze drifted to Hinata, who had a smiliar distraught look in her eyes. Quite the contrary to what the creepy glasses-clad man had said:

This was anything _but_ a victory.


	11. Chapter 11

Hello everyone. I really liked writing this chapter; I got so excited it was like verbal purging. I kind of get possessed when I write, so excuse any errors :T I know I do this every chapter, but I reallly REALLY want you guys to know how much your reviews mean to me. Honestly, I want to become a writer someday, and your feed back helps so much. Even if it's just one or two words, you're helping me fulfill my dreams. So thank you all, so very much. Enjoy :D

**Disclaimer: Naruto Own Don't I. Er...Buh-bye?**

Chapter Eleven: Your Turmoil

"Hey." They all turned around at the sound of the elder vampire's voice.

"Kakashi, where they hell were you?"

He waved his arm, gesturing towards the expensive leather luggage set. "Packing."

"You knew?"

"...Yeah pretty much."

"Why didn't-"

Kakashi stopped Sasuke with his hand. "I can only see the future; I'm not allowed to interfere. So I thought I'd get a head start on our packing. The car's out waiting, if you will."

In the midst of all the chaos and disorder, they had to admire Kakashi's control in a situation like this.

Neji put his hands on Tenten's shoulders. "You all ready to go?"

He noticed that she felt unusually tense and stiff in his grasp. Neji gave her a little shake, then turned her around to face him when he failed to answer. His widened when he saw how grave she looked. "Tenten?"

She removed his hands from her shoulders and gave them a little squeeze before letting go. "Hinata."

"Yes?"

"I need to check you for any cuts or bites."

"B-but I thought Neji already..."

"Did he strip-search you?" She looked at Hinata's beet red face. "I thought so. Come with me."

"T-Tenten, I really-"

"Hinata, trust me when I say that in a situation like this, it's better safe than sorry."

She saw Hinata hesitate.

"Hinata! I know I'm not usually such a bitch, but believe me, and you can ask your cousin, but I am not a patient woman!"

In all of their outings and social happenings, Tenten had always been the mother figure; the caring authoritative voice that kept everyone under control. But now, being the subject of Tenten's rage, Hinata was sure of one thing. No matter how kind and caring Tenten was, she was still a vampire. And it was extremely unwise to disobey her.

Naruto stopped cowering behind a throw cushion. "Tenten, I'm sure she's fine. We checked-"

"It won't hurt to check again."

This time Hinata didn't resist as Tenten dragged her into the adjacent room. Tenten worked quickly in removing Hinata's clothing. Standing in nothing but her undergarments, she felt ridiculous for feeling embarrassed. It was only Tenten, after all.

"Sorry I was so harsh with you."

"It's okay..sorry I was so difficult."

"No no! I just...can you keep a secret?"

"Uh huh."

"You know how Naruto and Gaara kept watch over me before I was attacked?"

Hinata nodded. "Well the truth is...I was infected before they knew it. One day, I was in the woods training when this strange man came near. He was wearing a cloak, so I couldn't really see his face. He...he said he needed money, for the winter, and was selling flowers. When I went over to buy one, he tripped me. I didn't know he did it on purpose, but looking back I realized it was all part of his plan. When I fell, I felt a slight sting on my wrist. I assumed it was just a vine, or a rock I had landed on. The man helped me up, then disappeared."

"I went back home, never realizing the danger I was in. The bite he had given me was so small that Gaara or Naruto never noticed it. Had they known, they would've immediately sucked the poison out of me. But it was a small cut, so it took many days before the poison took effect. I was in the woods one day when the symptoms kicked in. Hinata, it was the most unbelievable pain imaginable." She handed Hinata her shirt, smiling.

"I don't blame them for what happened, and I don't ever plan on telling them. Still I can't help but wonder...what if they had been more alert? Maybe things would've have turned out differently for me. I might have even had a few kids of my own..." she patted her flat, barren stomach. "You know, I've always wanted to have kids."

She heard sniffling and turned to Hinata, who was bawling her eyes out. "But don't feel sorry for me now! I've made the best friends, seen a lot of great things in my life, and I've also met the man of my dreams. So everything's just fine...I just don't want to live with the regret that I could've saved you."

"So, am I...?"

"You're fine." She ruffled Hinata's soft black hair. "Ready to go?"

------------------------------------------------------------------

"We'll go to Sai's coven, up in France! I love the French!"

Naruto glared at the thought of the artistic vamp. "No way! That boy has an extremely unhealthy infatuation with my genitals!"

"You can't blame him; you're always running around the house naked."

"Would you all SHUT UP!" ..._UP...UP...UP..._

Tenten's voice continued to echo into the background. "We're going to stay with Shikamaru and Temari's coven in Greenland. There are plenty of vampires there; we'll be able to blend in easily."

Gaara's spring green eyes brightened in a rare moment of excitement. "My sister's coven?"

She nuggied him, much to his annoyance. "That's right, GaaGaa!" Tenten turned to Hinata, who was sitting behind her next to Sasuke. "You'll love Greenland. The name's still deceiving, but it's absolutely beautiful! And you can meet Temari and Shikamaru. He's totally whipped, but he's good people all the same."

Hinata nodded. She turned to her left, where Sasuke was sitting beside her. Ever since their surprise guest visitor, Sasuke had been quiet. Well, quiet_er_. He had hardly said a word all day. Currently, he had his forehead resting against the window, staring at the road ahead.

They had spent all morning together, but it seemed so vague and far away after all of the havoc and disorder. She just wanted to feel the coldness of his skin, running along the surface of her neck. It had happened so often that Hinata took it for granted, the way his fingers tiptoed thirstily along the nape of her neck. Staring out the window, she felt ignored and discarded. It felt like he was growing tired of her. She sighed; after all, she wasn't worth all of the trouble she was putting them through.

Unbeknownst to her, Sasuke was well aware of her presence. In fact, ever since their surprise visitor, Sasuke had focused every ounce of his concentration towards detecting any potential threats. How badly he wanted to spent more lazy afternoons with her, simply sitting under a tree and looking at the moon. But it didn't matter what he wanted, or how she felt at the moment. He had his priorities, and it was keeping her alive. Even now, his eyes would check on her every few seconds, just to be sure.

Hinata's thoughts were interrupted as the car rolled to a stop. She looked at the clock; four hours already? It felt like all of her thoughts, these emotional roller coasters, had flown her through the hours in a matter of minutes. A valet opened their door.

"Welcome to the Grands Hotel! Allow me to take your bags." If Hinata had not been so distraught, she would've marveled at the sight of the extravagant hotel.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The nine of them were gathered in a huge suite, all circled around the coven head. Kakashi sighed, once again reminding Hinata of how old he actually was. He laced his fingers together, tucked them under his chin.

"As you probably figured out, it's too risky for us to travel together. We'll split up into two groups, then meet again when we're in Greenland. I've already contacted Shikamaru; he'll be in the shadow of the clock tower, ready to conceal all of us. Remember: be at the tower by 3 p.m. in a week."

Now the question that everyone was really dying to know. One group would have no trouble at all; the other, on high alert. Hinata gave up waiting - "What are the groups?"

Kakashi looked at Sasuke; he clenched his fists. The air in the room became heavy with tension. Sasuke looked at Kakashi head on. "What's the groups?" he murmured in a dark, quiet voice.

"Group one...Tenten, Kiba, Gaara, Naruto, and...Sasuke."

Sasuke looked indignant. "Keep going."

"...And group two, Shino, Neji, myself, and Hinata-"

"Kakashi."

The softness of his voice was incredibly unnerving.

"Sasuke, try to understand. They know you'll tryto protect her. We need to split you-"

"Can't do it."

The poor white haired was prepared for the battle that he knew would ensue.

"Think about it Sasuke."

"Okay. Can't do it."

Even Hinata was shocked at his degree of insistence. It was extremely selfish of her to feel this way, but the idea of being separated from him frightened her. But what could she do? She couldn't disagree with everything that Kakashi had said so far. It wasn't her place to.

"Sorry Sasuke. You're split." He was done arguing with Sasuke. He knew that this would improve her chance of survival; the last time he had given Sasuke freedom, he had ran away to get himself bitten. It was hard to tell sometimes, because of Kakashi's upbeat nature, but he was still the guardian figure. Such decisions had to be made.

Kakashi didn't even flinch when he heard the sound of shattered glass. Didn't even turn around to tabulate how much the shattered TV, broken bed frame, and punctured wall would cost him.

Naruto scratched his head in fustration and exhaustion. "Why don't we all just, like...get some sleep, we have a big day tomorrow -...fuck it. I'm out."

He disappeared down the hallway and collapsed on to one of the beds. He simply lay there, staring up at the stucco ceilings.

--------------------------------------------

Morning had come too soon. It was slightly unnerving to wake up to eight people staring at her. She combed her hands through her hair and sat up unhappily. Today was the day.

But today had come too soon...

While the others were busy packing, she slipped away from them and stalked off to where Sasuke was, sitting in a corner in the shadows.

He looked up when she approached him, but averted his eyes. It was too painful to look at her.

"Sasuke..." what could she _possibly_ say to remedy this situation?

Apparently, nothing as he snaked an arm around her waist and drew her in, crushing her. He leaned his chin against the top of her head, running her hands over her silky hair. "We don't have to." _part this way..._

She reluctantly clutched the sides of his jacket with her hands; touching him would make it all the more harder to let go. "I...I don't know..."

"We don't have to," he assured her once again.

His proposition was tempting; runaway with him, and be with him? Forever? Where was the harm in that?

Ah...right. Running away, _forever_, living like someone's always just around the corner, and having to watch your back with every step you took? She couldn't do that to him; wouldn't.

"Sasuke...just...kiss me!" She had a pleading look in her eyes. "Please..." she breathed. Sasuke tightened his hold on her; he knew what a kiss meant. A kiss meant god bye.

"I can protect you."

Why did he have to make this _so_ hard for her? How could she possibly leave him after he told her something like that? It was the closest he had ever come, maybe the closest he would **ever** come, to saying what he felt for her. And could she pass that up?

_"Won't you leave...for love, tonight?"_

She released her hold on him. _"Yes."_

Sasuke loosened his arms; with understanding in his eyes, he leaned down so they were face to face and kissed her.

He kissed her forehead, trailing down to her eyes. He kissed first her right one, then her left. She loved the way his nose brushed over her face as he kissed every inch of her; her nose, cheeks, chin, and finally her lips. As his tongue gently traced her lips, she allowed herself to run her fingers through his hair, one last time, before he broke away.

And he left, no point in wasting idle time. It was easier this way...right?"

She tapped Naruto on the shoulder. "C-Can I get something from the vending machine?"

He smacked himself in the face. "I totally forgot you had to eat! Yeah sure. I'll tell the others."

Hinata wanted to cry; this was too easy. They would hate him, but it was better this way.

She casually walked out of the room and, after closing the door, made a mad dash for the elevator. No, no! The elevator would take too long. She wrenched open the staircase and threw herself down the fights of stairs. She could feel the bruises forming in her arms, her legs, her head. But her urgency nullified the pain as she jumped down entire flights of stairs; it was now or never. They would know any minute.

As she sprinted her heart out towards the main lobby, she felt herself suffocating, and it had nothing to do with the running.

It was so hard for her. The pain was excruciating; to know she was giving it all away.

All of those beatings she had suffered through, the taunting, the loneliness: that, she could endure. But this...this was simply other-worldly pain. As she ran through the lobby, towards the doors, she knew that this was it. Her inner turmoil pressed against her chest like an anvil; the tears poured out. She didn't slow. Even as the guests and hotel staff tried to stop her, to help her. She felt like laughing; there was no helping her now. "_Good bye everyone...Sasuke. Maybe...if you hate me so much...you'll forget me."_

Bursting through the double doors, she jumped into the cab that was already waiting for her. The driver turned around, his glasses glinting menacingly in the morning sun.

"Morning, Miss Hinata. Ready to visit our Snake-san?"


	12. Chapter 12

-reuploaded because I never got the e-mail saying the chapter got uploaded. So just in case you didn't either!

**Just a friendly reminder to all who were wondering. This fic _is_ based on Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer. Thank you all for your time. And I am truly sorry if I have offended you, but I did mention this is based on Twilight, many times :D**

The end is near D: Honestly, it's only gonna be like three chapters left. Maybe even less. I'm so sad it's almost over x( And the ending will be different from the novel, because I just can't write sequels. So yeah…no sequel. Sorry Dx

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Alrighty-o?**

Chapter twelve: Your Pain

Now one might ask: why was she sitting here, in a taxi with the worst possible person you'd want to be in a taxi with? Why would she give up her friends and loved ones, and submit herself to his clutches?

The human mind is an interesting device; one that can easily be toyed and manipulated with. Especially if you're capable of loving.

_Flashback_

Hinata opened her eyes and found herself in a dark, cramped closet with this glasses-clad stranger. He began to mutter some foreign words under his breath, and when he finished a purple light emitted from his hands. Everything, minus herself and the strange man, seemed to freeze in time. She swatted a coat; her fingers passed right through it.

He chuckled. "Scream, kick, do whatever you want. But you and I are frozen in time."

She quivered with fear as the light from his glowing hands illuminated his face. She didn't need to ask who he was; at least, _what_ he was. Her instincts told her to run, scream, and kick, but she had learned that it'd only motivate him further.

"Hello. I believe you've heard of my master...the Snake?"

Hinata sank to the ground, covering her hands with her face. She had been expecting this; they had warned her many times. So why did it feel so scary? "What do you want?" She couldn't stutter; everything was looking too hopeless for her.

She felt like throwing up as his scaly hands covered her hands, ripping them from her face. "Well isn't it obvious my dear? It's not me that wants something, it's him. And he wants you." He zeroed in on her, like a predator stalking its prey. His face didn't look enchanting like her friends; it looked vile, and grotesque.

He seized a patch of her luminescent hair, deeply inhaling its floral scent. "My...you do smell nice." He frowned. "It's a shame I can't drink you right here...right now." He chuckled, releasing her hair. "Feel lucky, Miss Hinata, that he has interest in you. You're spared; for now, anyway. But let's not dwell too far into the future."

It felt like a snake, coiling its tight body around her frail neck. He leered at her with those cold, beady eyes. "I see doubt in your eyes, Hinata. 'What makes you think I'll go with you?' Is that what you're thinking? Well, you're wrong." His grin was the most sinister, vile thing she'd ever seen. "Because you'll follow me. You'll obey me."

"J-Just take me now then!" _Kill me now, kill me already!!! Just spare my friends...please..._

"Oh, I couldn't possibly kidnap you. Not with that bastard Uchiha, or the old man in the way. In fact, I've only a few minutes left. So you'll do as I say. Do you know why?" He creeped up behind her, whispering in her ear. "Think about it, Hinata. How long before they get sick of you? Grow tired of hauling around your dead weight? How long until the throw you away like they did with their previous toys?"

She closed her opalescent eyes, but he was closer than ever as his words tangled through the inner workings of her brain.

"You know, he never gives up. You've got eight powerful vampires on your side." She could feel his blood-stained teeth, leering at her. "He'll love the challenge. Look around you, Hinata. At all the pretty faces. He always wins."

When she opened her eyes, she was astounded at how concerned his eyes were, and how tenderly they gazed down at her. So much sympathy and grief was entwined in his dark eyes that Hinata was almost convinced. _Almost._

He could care less about the emotional burden placed onto her shoulders: to be forever happy, or to sacrifice everything for the sake of her friends. All he cared about was taking for to her inevitable demise.

Kabuto gently rubbed her shoulders, in what was supposed to be a comforting gesture.

"Protect your friends." His icy breath made the hairs on her neck stand on end. "Save them, and come with me…now here's what you do:"

"As soon as they find you, they'll pack their bags and head to the nearest hotel. You are not to say a word during this time. At nine, I'll have a taxi waiting outside the door. Don't think; just get in. You have two minutes to make it, or else you can bid your dear friends farewell. The choice is yours, Hinata. Spare your friends, or selfishly cling onto their precious protection forever like the burden you are.

The spectators could only look on with sadness in their eyes as two power houses collided against each other with mind-numbing force. A kaleidoscope of blue and orange swirled around their lithe bodies as they exchanged blow after blow.

Neji's time with them had been brief, and he couldn't understand what good fighting would do in such a dire situation. He glanced at all of the solemn faces; even Gaara and Shino's usual passive pretense was painted with undertones of tension and apathy. Kiba had long since stalked off; he didn't want to talk.

And Tenten? Her eyes lacked their lively golden sheen; she looked sad and exhausted.

She laced her fingers through his, hanging onto them like they were a source of life support. "I know. But this is the only way they can cope."

"But why Naruto? What reason could he have for being mad at Sasuke?"

Tenten shook her head. "No one's mad at anybody. If anything, they're mad at themselves." She could tell that Neji was confused. "Think about it. In a situation like this, we can only blame ourselves like I'm sure you're doing at this very moment. I am too. Right now, this is as hopeless as it gets. We don't know where she is, why she's gone, she could even be a spy for them."

His porcelain eyes widened in disbelief. "You can't tell me you believe that."

She turned to face him, looking at him square in the eye. "No. No I don't. But the point? We don't know _anything._ So what can we do? Fight. The wounds never last, the exterior ones anyway."

Naruto hissed as Sasuke's claws scathed into his back, leaving behind angry, jagged streaks of black. All he could think about as he bit into Sasuke's shoulder was the last time he'd seen her; how it was _all his fault_. He felt hurt, and obviously betrayed; tricked, even. But most of all he felt hate: towards himself.

The others always joked around about how clueless he was, or how laughably low his grades were even after a century of studying. But, as he replayed that fateful moment in his head, he truly felt _stupid_ for the first time in his life.

Sasuke had to ram Naruto's head against a thick tree to get him to let go. There was no pain in his shoulder, but only inside of his chest.

That morning, it was like a current of electricity flowing through them. They all felt it, and exchanged looks.

What happened after, Sasuke wasn' t too sure of, but he vaguely remembered plowing the others out of his way as he ran out of the room and dashed towards the elevator. He wrenched open the staircase and leaped down the staircases like a panther.

It was like he was on another one of his nighttime excursions. Sasuke allowed his animalistic instincts to overcome him as he did anything to get there in haste. It only took four seconds for him to fly down fourteen flights of stairs. But it didn't take long to realize that he was four seconds too late.

The transformation from human to vampire is a painful, tedious process. The venom slowly spreads from the wound and courses through the heart, creating an eternal bond between the two souls of the predator and prey. Once the heart stops beating, the transformation is complete. Sasuke could remember the pain, but what he remembered most was the cold wave that washed over his body, and stayed there for good.

Still, as he opened the hotel door and was greeted by a rainbow of cars, the cold within him could not be rivaled. He frantically whipped his head around, looking for _any_ sign of the car that could be carrying her away from him. No sign of her anywhere.

Uchiha Sasuke was no fool; he knew that it was impossible to know where she was now. The message reverberated through his head loud and clear; she was gone.

Why she left, where she was going, why the world had to be so screwed up and cruel, he did not question. Tearlessly, he sank to the ground, curling up into a ball; just like when he was a child.

He snarled in anger, kicking Naruto squarely in the jaw and sending both of them hurtling towards the ground. Sasuke viciously sank his claws into Naruto's already battered abdomen. This is why he hated to feel things!

_Slash._

He only ended up getting hurt!

_Slice._

Why even bother risking it if this was how it always turned out!? It was easier feeling nothing at all!

_Slit._

It hurt too much….

And all through this, Naruto simply laid there as Sasuke pinned him to the ground and continued to hack him into his mutilated body. Silenty, obediently, he accepted the beating. In a way, they were in the process of burying the hatchet for good. Sasuke continued to maul Naruto, admitting that he did point some of the blame at Naruto. And as Naruto simply took the beatings, he acknowledged that he accepted that responsibility. It was the way they functioned; words were too complicated.

Absently, Naruto watched as every cut Sasuke made in his skin restored themselves within seconds. His ocean blue eyes drifted to the painfully contorted face of his best friend and sighed.

If only he could heal the wounds of _other_ people. Wounds that bleed on the inside.

Hinata used her thoughts to preoccupy herself from the fear that caused the trembling in her knees. She probably should be afraid. Or worried, at least.

But as the scenery rushed passed her in a blur of vibrant Technicolor, she was washed in a rush of relief and contentment. Ever since she had met Sasuke and the others, Hinata had been filled with an overwhelming sense of guilt and inferiority. They had to sacrifice a lot just to be in her presence. She pretended not to, but Hinata could feel their eyes linger on her neck for just a little too long.

They fed her, clothed her in the most stylish attire (Tenten had created her into a real live my-size Barbie), and taken her into their home. They had entrusted her with their most dangerous secret, while they had every reason to dispose of her.

She always knew her fairy tale would have an ending; that she'd wake up from this dream that she had been fortunate enough to have dreamt. It would've been nice to stay in this dream and pretend to be oblivious, but it was high time that Hinata face her problems head on, all by herself.

"_You're free from me, Sasuke! Finally free…"_ Her eyes slowly floated to her hands. _"What are you, 100 years old?"_

The fear shined in her eyes as Kabuto pulled into an alley and looked at her. _"Well…live 100 more…for me."_

As Kabuto carried her on his back towards the hidden tavern, she could feel her soul fly away from her, leaving her an empty, detached shell. At the same time, she turned her head towards a walnut tree where one white dove stood among eight ravens. As all hope and feeling left her, she watched as the white dove readied its wings and flew away….

I know this chapter didn't seem too eventful, but it's building up her the next few chapters. Thank you all for reading :D


	13. Chapter 13

Thank you all, so much. I mean…good golly, are those reviews all mine? 300!? You're shtting me! I really appreciate it, everyone. Honestly. Thank you so, so much. I have no words to express my gratitude… I think the next chapter's the epilogue. But fear not, my faithful readers! I have another storyline in the works :D I want to thank you all for reading. It's been lots of fun, and it was nice hearing from you nice people. I'll shut up and let you read now 

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Twilight. So don't…start a fight?**

**Yeah…I need caffeine **

Chapter Two: Your words: what you said to me that day

All of the disturbing, gruesome, macabre scenes you could imagine were condensed into the small cave she was being pulled through. Witnessing all of the hideous creatures writhing in the murk would be enough for any normal human to sign up for their very own mattress-decked room.

Lucky for Hinata, she had lost one of the the key component of life; hope. Her death was inevitable; she expected it. So as they dragged her dead weight deeper into the dark cavern, she didn't resist. The sooner the better; maybe in death she could waste her days with thoughts and dreams of Sasuke.

When she blinked, Hinata found herself strapped to a chair, with leather binds snaked around her wrists. In the small dingy room, Hinata could feel all of the hungry eyes leering at her pale, naked neck. She felt like an animal: constrained and helpless.

The vampires came forward and gave her their version of the Hollywood hookup: they brushed her midnight hair until it shined even in the dim lights of the cave, washed her feet, dressed her in a billowy black satin dress, and tucked a single Gardenia bloom into her hair.

You'd think she was going to her own wedding rather than her death. She felt like laughing at the irony of it all; laughing, and crying.

Before, she had felt guilty that maybe she had loved Sasuke because he was a vampire. As she sat there, strapped to a chair and being victim to all of their bizarre ritualistic ways, she saw how wrong she was. All along she loved vampires _because_ Sasuke was one.

She became aware of the morbid silence that filled the air. Before he entered the room, she could feel his presence. It was like a million needles prickling the surface of her skin. Her stomach squeemed, and she was filled with the overwhelming urge to throw up everything in her body; anything to get his stench out of her system.

His voice was gravelly and uneven. He wore a dark cloak, the one Tenten had described, which fell into his eyes. The rest of his face was shielded by a curtain of slick black hair. "I am Orochimaru. And…my my, aren't we rude. Our guest is strapped to a chair. Can't have that, can we?" He snapped his pale, knobby fingers.

Two of his minions sprang forth and undid the binds. She didn't move.

"Hinata, my dear, don't be bashful. Come, why don't you stretch out your limbs?"

Still, nothing.

In a flash of cold wind Kabuto was behind her, breathing down her neck. "It's unwise to disobey him, Hinata."

Death had given her some courage. She blandly replied, "What does it matter? I'll die either way."

Out of nowhere, she found herself, standing, in the middle of the room. Orochimaru began to circle her from where he stood, getting closer and closer to her with every revolution. Before long, his nose was running along the surface of her skin. The contact left a stinging pain in its leave.

He laughed that eerie, bone chilling laugh. "I thought you smelled delicious from afar, but up close…" his gleaming amber eyes finished his sentence for him.

And then she saw it; the murderous intent in his eyes. His face was so bleak and bland that it was clear why hardly anyone saw it. His face was little more than the two yellow eyes leering at her. His nose was flat, like a snake's, and his thin thread of a mouth camoflaged with the rest of his face.

She understood; it hit her like a ton of bricks. He didn't free for out of decency, etiquette, or even pity. He did it to watch her _run._

All bullies thought alike. The same things ticked them; the same things excited them. They liked the chase. It was like they were on a hunt, and she was the prey.

If she stayed still, they still attacked, but run and they'll chase you. Every step they took would be another reason to hit you; you were teasing them. Making them work for their food.

Despite all of her worldly wisdom, and everything she had just said, no one could blame her when she took off as soon as his scaly hand found its way to her neck.

He growled in delight as he ran after her. As she ran, her silky tresses fluttered behind her; he grabbed a fistful of it, pulling her back. She came tumbling into his lap. It was like touching a hot stove; she instinctively jumped back, clawing at the ground as she struggled to get away.

She knew it was futile, but fear consumed all of her previous reasoning.

Orochimaru grabbed on of her pale legs and tugged on them. He dragged her this way before throwing her against the cold bricks walls. A pool of darkness haloed around her head.

The intoxicating smell of her blood convinced him that playtime was over. Orochimaru took slow, steady steps toward his immobile prey, victory resounding in every step. He leaned in close so that her unmarred skin was within reach. Then, just as he was about to sink his teeth into her, he was sent flying.

Hinata weakly opened her eyes and saw _his_ perfect face. With a quivering blood-stained hand, she reached out for it. She thought heaven wouldn't be so dark, but she wasn't complaining. He was there, she was free from that Snake creep, and, again, he was here with her.

But her brow furrowed with distaste as she saw the angry expression on his face. She wanted him to make that calm, rare face of his that she loved so much.

Then she heard his sickening voice and felt her perfect dream crumble beneath her. She cried with mixed feelings of sadness and bittersweet bliss as the realization dawned on her. Hinata was torn between conflicting feelings of happiness and remorse. So close to death, only to be revived by the mere sight of him. It was really enough.

"Why!"

He was too preoccupied making sure she was unscathed.

"Why did you come!?"

Naruto emerged from the shadows with Gaara right behind him. He looked exasperatedly at Sasuke. "You were supposed to wait for the signal. You've given us away." Somehow, he didn't sound as stern as he should've. After all, who would want that sick bastard sinking his teeth into her.

As he scooped her up into his arms, cringing at the alluring scent of her spilled blood, she pounded her fists against her chest. He crushed her against him and let her weep bitterly into his chest.

"Sasuke, you can't stay here!"

Kabuto seized the distraction and made to tear the couple apart. But halfway there he was stopped by Naruto and Gaara.

The fierry red head's mint green eyes flooded with hate. On the other side of the glasses-clad vampire, Naruto growled with disgust. "Your ass is mine, you sick bitch."

Before he had time to say any smart-ass comments Gaara backhanded him, sending him flying towards the bricks. He landed on his feet and pivoted himself towards his two feral opponents.

Orochimaru was _pissed_. No one dare interrupt his rituals! He stalked towards his prey with an unconvincing grin on his face.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, and he got up. He was stopped, however, by Hinata's hand clasped tightly onto his wrist. Frowning, he peeled her fingers off with a regretful smile on his face.

"I miss you."

She screamed as he took off, clashing head first with Orochimaru. It was just as Kakashi had said; the legendary Snake was truly a sight to behold. If Sasuke's movements were a slideshow, Orochimaru's was a still life portrait. He was moving so fast that it looked like he was rooted to where he stood. Occasional, his body would flicker like a candlelight, indicating his movements.

With Naruto and Gaara holding their own against Kabuto and Sasuke taking on the viper himself, it was a worse case scenario for Hinata. She could only look on helplessly while her friends risked their lives to save her.

Why did she always have to turn out to be the walking disaster?

Her screams went unheard; Sasuke's eyes were determined and focused. But more so, they were full of hate. Hinata couldn't see when it happened, but every so often a spray of blood would gush from Sasuke, leaving a large gash behind. Seeing his perfect, opalescent complexion tainted this way inflicted her with the same amount of pain he was going through.

His quick regenerating abilities quickly stemmed the flow of blood, but she couldn't bear to see him this way; not for her. Never for her.

Closing her eyes, she ran; now was as good a time as any. Like she could see what was going on. You could say it was like that leap of faith people speak of so often; she dove towards him, gasping softly as his sharp nails scathed her black, tearing the black satin.

Sasuke and Hinata went tumbling to the ground. Somewhere along the line, in the midst of their tumbling, their arms had found their way around each other. As they rolled to a stop, they stayed like that, on the cold hard floors, lost in each other's presence.

Orochimaru mourned the loss of her spilt blood, and angrily charged towards them. He was stopped, however, by a flash of white and black. Kakashi and Neji, both sporting a few of their own battle wounds, restrained the seething vampire.

Hinata grabbed fistfuls of his shirt, praying that somehow, they could stay like this. Nevermind the burning pain in her back, or the blood stains on his face. This, it was okay. "I won't let him get you."

He let out a small laugh. "You, protect me?"

"I'm sick you always dragging you down…"

"Is that why you left me?"

She frowned at the faint sadness in his voice. "I didn't leave you….I freed you."

She could feel the corners of his lips smiling against her forehead. "I need you to live. That's all."

Hinata shook her head. "I won't let him near you, Sasuke. I won't let go."

Sasuke stroked her hair softly, with an air of foreboding conclusiveness. "Remember that day…when you told me?"

She bit her lip. "Told you what?"

"That if I wanted you to leave, I'd asked you?" He coughed. "And you said you would?"

Her face twisted in pain as the tears trailed out of her crestfallen eyes. It became apparent that she wouldn't answer. He held her close with an air of finality before he loosened his hold on her.

"Leave me."

She couldn't help but feel betrayed as she felt Neji's hands pry her off of him.

And there he goes…away.


	14. Chapter 14

Bah, I'm furious. I've been trying to update for three days, and yeah you know the deal. Sorry :( Let me just say, this is my most difficult chapter. I know it took a long time to update, but I rewrote this at least seven times. I tried a lot of different things, but they just didn't fit. Now, I give you lucky number eight, which I feel is the best way I could've written this. I'm so pleased with the amount of feedback and reviews I got. I had a few negative comments and a flame or two, but that's life, right? Thanks to all of the criticism I got that helped me improve. My new fic will be out in a week or less. Thanks again, everyone :D

Just a little about this last chapter. The plain font means its in present time, Italics are flashbacks, and you all should remember what **_bold italic_** means ;D (wink, wink)

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But I'm really sad this fic is over, you know?**

Chapter Fourteen: My Name (Epilogue)

It was a dark, starry night; Hinata's favorite kind of night. The steering wheel felt foreign in her thin, slender fingers. With unparalleled grace and agility, she swiftly maneuvered through the lanes, dodging the oncoming cars. She watched with pure delight as the speed-o-meter continued to rise.

She threw her head gently back, letting the winds carry away her troubles and worries.

"_May the heavens welcome him  
with open arms as he makes  
his ascent towards the skies. _

_Rest in Peace Uchiha Sasuke_

_Beloved son and brother."_

From the corner of her eye, she could see Naruto's wild yellow hair flickering in the fierce wind. He stared at her proudly from the backseat, sporting a satisfied grin.

"…_Is this fate? Is this what nii-san meant?"_

It was nights like this, vacant and slow, where her thoughts would wander down roads that were better left untouched. Where the footsteps that had been buried away with a fresh layer of snow would once again emerge as she ventured into the neglected paths. She could still remember her words, from that day.

"_Am I…always going to be like this? Just a burden? …All my life, I just wanted to be normal; maybe have a friend or two, if I was lucky."_

Taking her eyes off of the road, she sadly patted the cold, empty passenger seat.

"_I thought that this time, maybe I could do the right thing. Maybe for once **I** could save everyone. Or myself at you…but you always have to play the heroics, don't you?"_

From the rear view mirror she could see Neji's long, silken hair whipping around uncontrollably. He laughed, at the expense of a very disgruntled Kiba and Tenten who were spitting out mouthfuls of his hair every so often.

"_I just didn't want to hold you back."_

If only Gaara and Shino hadn't gone with Kakashi to house hunt. Then they could've been together; their family. What was left of it, any way.

"_Now look what I've done. Sasuke, why did you have to come? Why couldn't you stay, like I meant for you to? I wanted to die, Sasuke! I didn't care! As long as I could save you! But you always have to be the hero! Why couldn't you let me die! For you! Why did you come!?"_

She slammed down the brakes as the traffic signal turned red.

"…_Why did you have to die?"_

_It was warm that Sunday afternoon. She hadn't changed out of that blood-stained dress, and the Gardenia bloom in her hair was wilted. Indifferent to her muddled appearance, she had continued to grasp the fine mahogany casket in her hands in fear that it would blow away with the heavy winds._

_Naruto especially had been hit hard by the tragedy. That day, he tried to do what he could to console her. _

"_Cheer up, Hinata. That snake bastard is finally dead; no one will ever bother you again. You're safe."_

_Her weariness showed in the blue, wrinkly bags under her washed-out eyes. She sighed hopelessly. "What good is it to me if Orochimaru is dead?" Her head inclined towards the coffin. Naruto looked around cautiously before leaning in to whisper in her ears._

"_I didn't want to fill you with false hope or anything like that, but…do you know why we burned down Orochimaru's coven?"_

_Distantly, Hinata shook her head. "No, I don't."_

"_Well, they say the only way to kill a vampire for certain is to sever them into hundreds of pieces, then burn them."_

"_Naruto, why-"_

"_SSHh! Well, that's for certain. What happens if we don't burn the body? What if we gave the body a proper burial? What happens then?" There was excitement reverberating in his steadily growing voice._

_Hinata's eyes widened as she turned to face Naruto for the first time. "You…you don't mean!"_

_His bright eyes shined; his mouth stretched into a crafty smile. "Yeah, that's exactly what I mean."_

_Eight heads formed into a circle around the freshly dug soil and bowed simultaneously. They joined hands as Kakashi began to read from his ancient manuscripts. Each shed tears that rained onto the ground; with hope that someday life would sprout from the barren soil._

_After reciting a few prayers, the circle disbanded. Hinata waited until Kakashi left to pull Naruto aside. "We gave him a proper burial and we read the prayers from the manuscripts. When is this all going to happen?" She knew how rude and pushy she sounded, but in all honesty she didn't care. She was desperate for a chance._

_Naruto shook his head. "Not so loud! Look, Hinata, he's not a daisy; he won't pop back up from the soil or anything anytime soon. Look, this is all very…complicated. I remember talking to Kakashi about this, like, a hundred years ago and even he isn't too sure of it." He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes with a serious look on his face. "Hinata, I don't know when it will happen…could be years. Hell, decades even. Who's to say it won't even take centuries!"_

"_The thing is…well, I-we've never tried this before…there are no guarantees."_

_Hinata closed her eyes in determination. "Anything, Naruto. I owe him that much."_

"_What I'm really asking you is…_

"…_will you wait?"_

_For an eternity?_

_Hinata understood the hidden question, and had been prepared to answer it since day one. There was no fear in her voice as she firmly answered his question:_

"_Yes."  
_

And then something happened. She couldn't explain why, but it like a puppeteer tugging on her head. A magnetism snapped her head to her left, and then time itself dissolved around her.

A shuttle drove by her, and through the window she caught a glimpse of opalescent pale skin and silky ebony hair that was alarmingly reminiscent. Even from far away, she could see them; those beautiful black eyes. The same eyes that held onto hers.

Ignoring the honks and many profanities that were launched in her direction, she slammed on the accelerator and made a huge, illegal turn.

It was like she was tiptoeing as she stalked the speeding bus. With mounting speed, she continued to chase that bus, trying fervently to peer into that small window.

They were flooring it now. Hinata didn't have to turn around to see her friends all grinning like madmen. Naruto whooped with enthusiasm. She felt the same manic grin spreading across her own face as she melted in between the cars. Hinata slammed into the nearby cars and started to drive alongside the bus. It was probably a bad idea to go in the wrong direction in a one way lane, but that was the least of her concerns at the moment.

Her eyes were shifting to a new focus now. She was still locked with those nostalgic coal eyes. Did he know? Did he remember? She didn't know. What she did know: she had to find out.

But as he inched closer to the window, pushing people away unconsciously with his rock solid body, she was certain he felt something. However small, or hazy his knowledge was, was insignificant. She enhanced her vision, peering closer into those heart wrenching eyes.

"N-Neji! Neji!"

He was already jumping into the front seat and manning the wheel. "Way ahead of you."

The enhanced muscles in her ankles responded to the wide arc he made, keeping her from tumbling out of the wide open window.

It was pure madness; there were three police cars behind them, and Hinata could vaguely hear the sound of helicopters a few miles away. But she disregarded it all. She poked her head out the passenger window and slowly, shakily, reached out to the bus. Her fingers gently grazed the window, where his jaunt face was tightly pressed against.

Stifling a cry of joy, she traced the contours of his face, his, forehead, his chin with the tip of her finger, wishing it was his cold skin she was tracing instead of this thick glass.

One of his pale, ivory hands pressed against the glass, tracing hers. His eyes widened at the coldness of them. The next thing Hinata heard was screaming as the shards from the now broken window fluttered through the air. There wasn't a single trace of hesitation in him as he leaned down towards her, locking his fingers with hers.

Those same, cold hands. The hands she never dreamed of letting go.

The other shuttle passengers flocked around him until there stood a massive crowd; some even snapped photos of the attractive couple in this tender moment.

How long they stood there, hovering out of their vehicles, clasping hands, was forgotten. She grasped both of his hands tightly; she felt him tighten his hold.

Louder than the police sirens, the cheering crowds, or the deafening helicopters was the beating of their hearts (if they could).

"**_Hinata."_ **

The word she always dreamed of hearing, not in her ears, but in the deepest realm of her heart.

And then it was over. The solid concrete wall tore their hands apart, severing them. His bus trailed into a tunnel, disappearing from her vision.

She did not cry, did not scream, did not regret. She smiled, a beautiful serene smile, for she could already visualize the pricking of his nose as he sniffed for her flowery aroma. The path that it traveled. The path that lead back to her:

Hope.


End file.
